The Occult: Chaos Reign
by TheLivingPortal
Summary: It has been 3 years after the attack to kill darkness. Nala Tsounhei, the 15 year old disgraced leader of the Inquisition force, attends Faith High School of the Arcane to hone her skills against darkness, training her fire and linage magic Divine Light. But she meets Erebus Acheron, a darkness wizard who seems eerily familiar from the past... Collab with ainsumLe.
1. Prologue: Enter, the Inquisition

Prologue: Enter, the Inquisition

The sun was sinking below the horizon, turning the sky a bright orange, which mixed with various shades of red and yellow, creating a brilliant sunset.

As the sky darkened, turning into night, the crunching of leaves signaled the approach of people. The fall sky gradually darkened, covering up the red, yellow, and oranges of the leaves. Amount the peaceful forest, a voice rang through the trees, emanating from a large white structure that broke the otherwise untouched scenery.

"It's finally time. As the Inquisition of Manaheart, we must silence the darkest wizards forever. No immortality spells or zombie familiars. Only justice: anyone who fails these demands shall be executed in the name of the holy light." ordered the leader, his deep voice echoing through the marble meeting hall.

"WE ARE THE INQUISITION! THE GUARDIANS AND THE BLESSED OF THE LIGHT!" chanted the other members, including a young girl, the daughter of the leader.

She had light, silvery-white hair and deep violet eyes that nearly anyone could get lost in. They stared reverently at the leader, a fire in her eyes to be the good in the world. She held on to every word, determined to prove herself worthy to her otherwise doubtful father.

"SALUTE THE HOLINESS! PURIFY THE UNCLEAN!"

"PURIFY!" roared the members of the Inquisition, holding up their right hands. Behind them glowed a stylized golden sun, set ablaze by the dying sunlight.

With that, the meeting adjourned, and the leader's voice bloomed one last time. "Nala. Meet me in the office at once." He was met with a hushed silence as the young girl wove her way through the crowd to the opposite side of the meeting hall where the office was located.

Soon, the white noise of laughter and mindless chatter filled the hall, creating a deafening roar as the girl closed the door to her father's office. She stopped a few inches in front of the closed door, her posture straight and proper and head bowed in respect, "I was summoned, father?"

The man, a heavy set fellow with light brown hair and dark brown eyes, sat behind his desk. Dark circles were obvious below his eyes and he looked at the girl tiredly, yet the same, stern look Nala had grown to hate shone in his eyes.

"Nala. You have been training for quite some time now. It is time to prove your worth. And carry on the family name," Nala felt her heart rising in anticipation. "I'm sending you to Faustum, the land of sold souls, the land of the devil. It's an ancient, dark town near the edge of the country. There have been rumors that the dark wizards from all corners of Manaheart shall be there in a week's time. You will lead a force of Inquisitors there and destroy them."

Nala raised her head, looking her father straight in the eyes. A determination burned deep within her eyes as she saluted.

"You have your orders. You leave before sunrise tomorrow morning, and not a moment later."

Nala bowed her head before turning and exiting the room, forcing herself to suppress her childish instinct to scream in excitement. After the door closed behind her, she punched the air in victory before taking a deep breath to calm herself. Only a handful of people remained in the room, and they all turned to face her at the sound of the door closing.

The oldest of the group, a man the age of twenty, walked up to her. "You are Nala, the commander of Operation: Faustian Deal?" he spoke in a serious tone.

She nodded, making her voice equally as serious, "Yes. We leave before dawn."

* * *

><p>"Targets apprehended. One person remaining." Nala reported to her father over a magic comlink.<p>

"Good. Remember, leave no survivors." spoke her father over the link.

They stood in the town hall, which was littered with dead bodies. Some of them were stuck to the wall in a crucified fashion; others were burnt beyond recognition. One similarity was shared between all of the victims: they were all dark wizards. The stench of the dead floated in the air.

She glared at the sole survivor, a tall boy around her age, with black hair similar to the dark wizards she recently killed.

"Father... Mother..." whimpered the boy as he stared at his dead parents, tears running down his face. "No... PLEASE COME BACK!"

"They're dead." hissed Nala, standing in front of the rest of her Inquisition squad. "You're dead-"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND DARKNESS!"

"It's killed our comrades. I know everything about it."

"YOU SICKEN ME!" burst out the boy as he twisted around with a pitch-black knife in his hand. "GO TO HELL!"

She narrowly sidestepped, feeling the intense shadows in his hand. _It's definitely darkness magic... but something's off about it... either way it's evil!_

Immediately, three Inquisitors pinned him to the wall, burning his skin with intense light from their hands. "Permission to execute the target?" they asked, watching him carefully.

"Permission granted." Nala stated, without a moment of hesitation in her voice.

As the soldiers swung their holy weapons at him, she felt a sense of dread. It felt as if everything would go horribly wrong. She realized she was staring into his eyes, and that they were the source of fear.

They were colorless and empty.

"Chaos Bite." hissed the boy, his voice heavily distorted as he sliced the trio of Inquisitors around him in half with one arm.

He marched towards the remaining forces, grinning maniacally as the people behind him turned into nothingness. His teeth were as sharp as a tiger's, hungry and powerful.

Instinctively, Nala jumped through the window, tumbling onto broken glass that cut into her skin. She thought about her cowardice as she ran away from the town hall, but the next moment made her glad she chose her action.

"Chaos Ravage." the bestial voice rang out.

As she looked back, her eyes widened as she heard the screams of her comrades, swallowed up by unnatural silence. She stared at the brutal carnage as a sphere of nothingness devoured the whole hall before disappearing.

A faint voice whispered in the back of her head as she stared at the event unfolding before her eyes. "NALA, RESPOND!" burst out her father's voice, finally shocking her back to reality. "WHAT HAPPENED!?"

She exhaled, trying to calm herself down. Under oath she was required to tell the truth. Yet she didn't want to tell her father about her failure; she in fact feared even mentioning the incident.

Her duty won out as her eyes failed to find the one survivor's body.

"We failed our mission. We purified the dark magicians except for one person. He massacred us." she said, tears beginning to run down her face.

"How are the others?" he asked over the magic comlink.

She began sobbing violently as she recalled the scene. "T-they're all dead. K-killed by t-the only s-survivor." she managed to choke out.

"Damn... are there any bodies we can recognize?"

She knew why he was asking. The Inquisition blessed their dead before burying them, therefore sending their soul to Heaven for fighting for good.

There was nothing left of Faustum's town hall. A crater was the only sign to show that it ever existed.

"No bodies." she reported, finally gaining a hold on herself. "T-the last wizard had some odd magic. He turned three Inquisition members into n-nothing before killing everyone else the same way. Nothing. N-not even ashes."

Her deep violet eyes widened as she heard a long sigh from the other end of the comlink. "Nala, come back to HQ. Now."

"Yes sir." she replied, closing the comlink. She began shivering, her silvery-gray hair swirling around her.

She knew her father was beyond rage at her. Everything had gone right for her when she got to lead the mission, but she lost it all at the last second. All because of that one boy.

_I swear, when I find you, I will personally torture you. Even if we're separated like heaven and hell, I will stay with you, making you rue the day you killed my comrades. _she thought as she began moving again, away from the tragedy at Faustum.


	2. Rune 1: The Shadow of Faith

Rune 1: The Shadow of Faith

"Father!"

"No buts, Nala. You'll be going to Faith High School of the Arcane for training."

"But father-"

"WHAT DID I JUST SAY!?" Nala shied away from her father's raised, angry voice, hanging her head in defeat.

"Listen up. 3 years ago, you became the failure and disgrace to the family name. You had the strongest light wizards of the Inquisition by your side that day. You had an army of them. And then you tell me that they get massacred, every one of them? That does not happen because of the enemy. It happens because their leader is incompetent and unable. It means you need to withstand hellish training before even THINKING about regaining your honor. You are a living shame. Get out and obey me. Go to Faith and come back with RESULTS or don't come back at all." His gaze was hard and absolute. Nala knew that there was nothing she could do but obey.

She got up from her chair in her father's office, opening and closing the door behind her without an audible sound. Briskly walking out of the Inquisition headquarters in the capital of Manaheart, she ignored the startled glances from other Inquisition members as she fought back bitter tears.

Once outside the building, she turned to face the giant, golden plaque that decorated the courtyard and was the signature piece at all of the Inquisition buildings. Inscribed on it was a verse from Genesis: And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.

Staring at it made her doubt her mission. She had read the inscription thousands of times before, and it had usually given her comfort. She felt her knees go weak as nausea began to overwhelm her. _What's the difference now?!_ she wanted to scream. _Was that what God had meant when he created the world!?_ She slowly fell to her knees and clutched her torso, cursing the Inquisition and her father. Her father. She hunched over, forcing away the tears that were welling in her eyes. _Why can't I ever seem to please him?! _

Someone cleared their throat behind her and she miserably turned to face a guard. He was much taller than her, with brown hair that framed shocking blue eyes.

"Miss Nala Tsounhei. His Divinity has requested you leave the grounds. You'll need to leave immediately or I have orders to drag you off the grounds." The guard had a timid, hesitant voice, as if he didn't want to deliver her father's message.

Nala turned and glanced at the office window, large and brilliantly stained, and saw the silhouette of her father looming behind the glass. She looked down and sighed, shakily standing.

"Alright," she started, hating the wavering in her voice, "I'll leave myself. Your assistance won't be needed..." She allowed her voice to trail off before briskly walking away from the plaque, the Inquisition Headquarters, her father, and the life she had once known.

Her leather boots clicked slowly down the white stone path. Gradually the clicking increased its frequency as Nala began to run, unable to stand the thought of her rejection anymore. She felt bitter tears burning down her cheeks and let them fall. She ignored the startled glances from the other people around her, not caring anymore what anyone else thought. She was miserable, and she was not afraid to show it anymore.

"Hoi, you'll catch everyone's attention like that." spoke a voice nearby her. "Jeez, slow down. It's okay to break down. Everyone does one day."

"IT'S NOT OKAY! JUST GO!"

"You either calm down or relax. Or just punch something to get rid of your frustration. Then I'll go-"

"WHAT PART OF 'GO' DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND!?" she screamed in frustration as she turned to punch the source of the sound.

A strong hand caught her fist, and the voice chuckled softly. "There you go, feel better?"

"WHAT DO YOU THINK!?"

"It helped a bit. You're a bit more relaxed than you were before."

"...Fine... I give up." she muttered, letting her fist drop to her side. "By the way, what's your name?"

"Drustan Gwytheryn," he bowed slightly, "at your service." He straightened, smirking a bit more.

Nala recognized him as the guard from earlier that was sent to kick her off the Inquisition grounds. "You're that guard from earlier. Why did you follow me?" She tried to keep from yelling at him, knowing it wasn't his fault, but she couldn't block all of the anger from her voice.

He scratched the back of his head. "I could see it in your eyes, Nala. You needed someone to talk to. Besides, you could hear His Divinity-"

Nala held up her hand, "Please don't call him that. It's one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. Thank you though. I guess I did need it." She sighed, letting her hand fall in defeat. _This is the second time I've admitted defeat in the last 24 hours... What's gotten into me?_

"Don't worry about it too much. It's nice, knowing you've gotten better-"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Nala asked, her arms folded across her chest defensively.

"Well... I guess you made my day."

"Oh. By the way, do you have another reason?"

"I heard from your dad that you had to go to Faith. Coincidentally, it has dorms, school registration ends in a week, and I teach there."

"YOU TEACH!? WHAT KIND OF PERSON ARE YOU!?"

"Just an assistant teacher to Professor Aran. Nobody at Faith has been able to even touch him in a magic battle."

"That explains... by the way, how's Faith?"

He grinned, laughing heartily. "Faith's the best place for high school, Nala. It's got boss teachers, boss classes, boss social life, boss everything!"

"I see... well, in that case it won't be so bad. Hopefully I'll get better at my magics without a hitch-"

She felt herself falling forward as a boy ran past her. He shouted out "Sorry!" before continuing on.

"YOU LITTLE B*****D" Drustan burst out as he grabbed the guy by the neck. "APOLOGIZE!"

Nala took a look at the guy as she stood up from her fall. The boy in Drustan's chokehold appeared to be 5'10", with messy black hair that covered his eyes. She could see his black t-shirt and jeans, along with a grey rucksack on the ground.

"Oh... it's you Drustan." choked out the boy. "How... are... you..."

"YOU DIDN'T APOLO-"

"Sorry... is... apology..."

"Hmph." Drustan muttered as he threw him into the air. "Lineage: Thunder God's Bolts."

Thunderbolts materialized in his hands, charging the air with ozone. He aimed a bolt at the airborne boy and threw it like a javelin.

As a burst of electricity rushed through the target, he walked away, grabbing Nala's hand. "Come on. We've gotta get you into Faith. Should be easy for you, they have a entrance exam I'm sure you can ace."

As they walked away, the boy landed harshly on the ground to the side of the road, smoking from the unkindly thunderbolt. Groaning, he looked at the two walking towards Faith.

"I'll be seeing you Nala." he said. "See you at the entrance exams."

* * *

><p>"Man, does Drustan pack a punch..." muttered the boy as he entered the examination room at Faith, rubbing his ribs where the guard hit him with his thunderbolt. "Time to put on my game face."<p>

He walked into an arena, where 99 other students were waiting. Only ten of the 100 would be chosen to be in Faith High School of the Arcane.

_I wonder who're the big charms in here... _he thought as he walked around the arena.

"You there with the grey rucksack. Turn around, slacker."

He sighed, pivoting on his left foot. _What a pain..._

"Slackers ain't gonna make it in to Faith, ya dig?" arrogantly spoke a boy with more beef and height than most adults. "Do a favor and scurry out before I bury you."

Four girls with him giggled, laughing at the black-clad boy. "You're up against the Boulder, run before he smashes you." they taunted.

"Big fry don't use banter." he merely said. "So you're Boulder, huh? Good luck."

"You're the one who needs Lady Luck, shrimp."

The girls around him giggled again.

"It's Erebus. Erebus Acheron." the teen said, before turning and walking away.

As the sound of his footsteps were washed away by the beginning cheers, the ox of a man slumped down to his knees. "S***. We're dead."

Erebus waited for his good matches. After fighting wizards that he practically defeated with one punch, he started getting bored. "That girl gets all the tough ones, no fair." he muttered. _At this rate Faith won't be accepting me anytime soon. I haven't even used my magic._

Soon, the final match came up. "And now here we are! The final match of Faith's Entrance Exam! Our final two fighters: Erebus Acheron versus Nala Tsounhei!"

Immediately after hearing his name, the crowd made an audible shiver before beginning to cheer for Nala. "TURN HIM TO ASHES! GIVE HIS SHADOW A ROASTING!"

"Why is it they never cheer for me...?" he grumbled as he walked up onto the arena.

Nala stared at her opponent in front of her, with his black shirt and jeans. _He's Erebus!? _she thought as her violet eyes widened in surprise. _This is the guy that knocked me over by accident, not a infamous dark magician! This isn't the guy that single-handedly defeated a rebellion's whole army!_

"Hey, pay attention. I hope you're better than most people... good luck to you." Erebus said. "Are we going or not? I really want to use my magic."

Among the audience, people shifted uncomfortably. One boy asked his mother who Erebus was.

"It was a short while ago. There was a rebellion with water wizards about wages working on a river cleaning project. Erebus took care of them all faster than the Inquisition could get there. In five minutes the river cleaners were begging for their current wages. Scary, scary story, son..."

As the crowd cheered for Nala, she sighed, staring at her opponent. "If you're Erebus, there's no mercy for you."

"That's my name. Did Drustan really have to give me that thunderbolt?"

"I don't know. Did you really have to crash into me and try to rush off?"

"You have a point. But seriously, Nala, we're wasting time." He assumed a combat stance.

Likewise, she covered her hands in fire, her elemental magic, as she slid into a defensive stance. "Please. You could've attacked along time ago."

He shrugged as he dashed forwards, dark blades appearing in his hands.

"Hmph." Nala began to sway forward and back a little, her fists ablaze as she guarded her torso.

Erebus lazily sent her airborne, knocking her off her feet with his redirected shadow before shooting her upwards with a impact from her own shadow.

Nala felt herself going airborne and cussed softly under her breath, but easily maneuvered herself to do a graceful backflip. She landed softly on her feet.

Erebus was a step ahead of her as he fired a shadowy lance from his left hand at point-blank range from behind her, knocking her over as the shadow smashed into her right shoulder blade.

As she rolled forwards with a bruise, she thought about his magic. _He's a darkness magician, and a good one at that. But it looks like he uses shadows... so if I get rid of them, he's helpless!_

She surrounded him in a burst of flames, illuminating him and removing every one of his shadows. "Got you!" she roared as she rushed at him with searing hot fire.

He held his hand up, somehow catching her punch despite the heat from her hands. Without any effort he threw her to the side before walking through the circle of fire around him.

She narrowed her eyes. _I guess fire won't work then. _She sighed inwardly. _Guess I'll have to give them a light show. _"Lineage: Divine Light: Blinding Flash!" Blinding sunlight filled the room, causing some of the spectators to mutter in protest. She launched herself towards Erebus, roundhouse kicking him in the head.

"Ugh!" he muttered as he spun around, slightly stunned. _Light and darkness are interconnected. When there is light, there must be a shadow._

He sensed a huge bit of shade behind him. _Looks like I can do this then._

Rushing towards Nala, he surrounded himself in his own shadow, allowing him to see properly again. He clawed her left arm with newly sharpened dark nails on his right hand.

She hissed in pain and quickly turned to face him, punching at his face quickly with as much force as she could muster. _Damn, they're really sharp! Clean scratches!_

He took the blow, which cracked the shadows covering his face. _I should end this..._ "Override: Shadow Boost."

Momentarily he disappeared from sight, reappearing under Nala's guard to deliver a furious barrage of punches. As she went airborne again, he disappeared again, reappearing above her to smash her into the arena with a strong kick.

_Ugh! When did he do that? _she thought as she groaned, lying on the cracked arena. "I hope... Divine Light: Piercing Ray."

Aiming her right pointer finger at him, she fired a laser, burning through him and his shadows below his ribs.

_Dammit... _Erebus thought as he stumbled, breathing heavily as he struggled to maintain his self-control. _This pain is annoying! I can't focus! Guess there's no helping it but using my Lineage magic... _

_It sucks to be a descendent of the darkest wizards of all time._

"I'm really sorry... don't hold this against me..." he said to Nala. "Lineage: Nyx."

Writhing darkness appeared around him as he pointed at her. "Nyx: Oizys."

A tendril of pitch-black night shot at her, anchoring to her body and spreading over her leg. She screamed in absolute pain, crying with her tears streaming over her face. "STOP! P-PLEASE! A-ANYTHING!" she burst out, gripping the ground tightly.

"Say 'I surrender.', because I don't want to hurt you even more. Those attacks I gave you definitely need treatment, and I'll feel guilty if I killed you." Erebus calmly said as he broke into a cold sweat. _I'm losing myself... anymore and my sanity goes "CRACK!"_

Nala gasped in pain, squeezing her eyes shut, "P-Please... I-I surrender! JUST MAKE IT STOP!"

He withdrew the magic away from her, gladly causing it to dissipate. _I hate using it. It means everything bad my ancestors have done. Plus, I felt like I was going to lose my sanity..._

As the announcer reluctantly declared him the winner, he crumbled to the ground, scummbing to his injuries and his lack of breakfast for energy.

The medics ran out to both Nala and Erebus, stretchers hand in hand. Both of the combatants were carefully, but quickly lifted onto the stretchers.

As Nala looked at him, then at the sky, she realized with a shudder that Erebus could've easily killed him. _Those times I was airborne... he could've easily spiked and maybe even decapitate me... why didn't he?_

As the final question burned through her, the medics carried them off to the infirmary. The world began fading to black as her mind finally succumbed to the intense pain from his magic.


	3. Rune 2: A Light Defeat

Rune 2: A Light Defeat

_My head is killing me..._

Erebus sat up in his hospital bed, looking around him. It was clean and serene there, and seemed to be a safe area.

A dull pain flared up on his chest area, causing him to bend forwards in surprise. _Oh yeah... she shot me there..._

He groaned, rolling to his side to allow the pain to subside. _These painkillers work though... _His eyes widened as he saw Nala on the bed next to his.

She was hugging her legs close to her body, clenching her fist while she did so. Apparently she was still in pain. "S-someone...anyone... even t-that b*****d E-Erebus..."

His eyes widened, then softened despite his own wound. _Wow... she hasn't had it easy, just like me... _He shook his head, trying to dispel the fuzziness in the back of his head. _Man did I nearly go crazy... _

_She's a Inquisitor, isn't she? Only those guys have light magic at that level._

Erebus forgot about that, and despite the fact he was a darkness magician, he extended his hand towards her. He weakly grasped her right hand, momentarily sharing her pain before drawing back. Once again, he touched her, this time allowing a bit of darkness magic to infect her.

Nala shuddered for a moment, then relaxed, loosening her tight grip on her legs. She began breathing easier, obviously free from the magical pain.

_She's good... if she died on me I'd feel guilty. Killing is the least satisfying thing, ever. I wouldn't blame her if she hated me though..._

Her violet eyes fluttered open before widening in surprise. "YOU PERVERT!"

"Huh-?"

She swung out of her hospital bed, nearly yanking his arm off as she began beating Erebus. As she hit him with flame-covered fists, she burnt his face and upper chest.

Nala stopped after his chest wound reopened, turning the sheets crimson red. "You. Are. Dead. Next. F***ing. Time." she hissed before getting off of him. _The hell is with him? Holding my f***ing hand!?_

A nurse came running in, her eyes widening as she saw the blood gushing from Erebus' s reopened wound. She immediately ran out, screaming for a doctor.

Nala sighed as she walked out the door, looking back at his smoldering body. _Who got rid of that pain? _she wondered. _Not that I care..._

_What was up with that darkness? I thought it was evil at first, but it just healed me! I'm so confused! Father wasn't lying about it, was he? _She shook her head_. No. It's not possible... Why would he lie about something like that?_

She remembered the plague in front of Inquisitor HQ. _Maybe not all darkness is the same..._

As she exited the hospital, she felt a tinge of guilt. _He's a darkness wizard, of course he deserved that beatdown! _she thought, trying to convince herself. _But maybe... I didn't have to overkill him. Besides... Father would be proud... right? _

She sighed, once again conflicted as she trudged to the dorms.

"Hey! Nala! Ya did good back there!" spoke up Drustan as he walked along with her. "How ya feeling?"

"I'm just peachy." Nala growled, not bothering to hide the sarcasm that laced her voice. How could she describe the swirl of emotions that occupied her mind, the conflicted mess that was spinning out of control within?

A magical loudspeaker rang out nearby. "All people who have taken the Faith Entrance Exam, please enter the arena." it reported before it became quiet.

Drustan lifted Nala up and threw her over his shoulder, ignoring her protests. "Come on! We gotta get you there!" He started running through the campus towards the arena.

As they entered, she noted a shadowy blur above her, indistinct and seemingly shapeless. She shook it off, thinking it was her imagination. _I must've hit my head in the fight..._ Quickly she stood in line with the other wizards, all in various conditions. One guy looked as if someone paddled his face repeatedly.

A woman dressed in a snow-white dress took the stage in front of them. "Greeting, all applicants. I am High Dean Elise Blizzant, and I am here to congratulate you for all your efforts."

Some people in the audience groaned, expecting a drawn out speech that'd take up the whole day.

"But I know you'all want to hear about who got into Faith, so let's get to it. Ahem... in 10th is..."

Nala tuned out the dean's words, watching people shuffle from the audience down towards the stage.

"...The second best of all the applicants here is Nala Tsounhei."

The audience clapped appreciatively. Apparently, they were awed at her skills as she mounted the stage.

"Ahem. And the number one applicant, in fact the best one we've had in years... is Erebus Acheron."

A thick silence engulfed the audience and the unchosen applicants. Jaws dropped in amazement. "WHAT!?"

Nala growled under her breath, causing the people around her to look at her, either startled or scared. _How did he- The hell is going on!? He's a slacker, anyone that looks at him knows that!_

"It is indeed. Some of our judges are Inquisitors, and they do say he is indeed one of the best here. They also wanted to execute him, so I had to freeze them." confirmed Dean Elise.

Nala clenched her fists. She felt like punching something- in fact, anything. _What makes him so special that the Dean herself interferes with the Inquisition?!_

She didn't realize that the Dean herself was calling out his name in an effort to bring him to the stage. "Erebus! Please come down here with the rest of the applicants!"

SIghs of relief flooded the arena. Maybe Nala would be the number one applicant.

"You really need to look up." a familiar voice spoke.

Dropping from the sky itself, Erebus himself landed behind Nala, barely causing an impact.

Nala forced herself to breathe evenly to avoid making a scene in front of the Dean. Her rage boiled deep in her stomach.

"Thank you very much for that beatdown of yours." he said, standing taller as he got up. His voice gave no indication of sarcasm.

Nala stared at him, recognizing the lack of sarcasm in his voice. "Yeah? Well I'd be happy to give you one whenever you want one."

"Thank you again." he said, simply walking around her and taking his place.

Boos and insults burst out from the audience, obviously angered at the last-minute arrival. "JUST LIKE THE SLACKER HE IS!"

Nala merely stayed silent, letting her rage build more. She wouldn't allow herself to explode in front of the Dean.

"You need to relax." Erebus offhandedly noted. "Build that rage and the people next to you will catch on fire. Including me."

"Didn't you just thank me for beating you?" she hissed in response. "You'd be thankful for that too and you know it."

"If you want to leave everyone else here with third-degree burns, go ahead. And about that beatdown, it woke me up."

Nala folded her arms across her chest and remained silent, glaring forward without another word.

"Hey... if I became a bad guy, would you kill me?" Erebus asked. His voice sounded softer and kinder.

She sighed inwardly, trying to calm down a little bit in response to his softer tone. She failed miserably. "Without hesitation."

He sighed, giving her the first sound that made him sound human. "If a dark magician saved your life, would you kill him?"

She paused, feeling her emotions conflict once again. Her anger immediately dissipated. "I... I don't know. Maybe."

Erebus exhaled a bit as the audience continued booing him. "You should figure out the true nature of light." he said. "Not all light is good. Not all darkness is bad."

She growled slightly, clenching her fists, not knowing how to respond to his statement. It conflicted everything she had been raised to know. She felt like screaming that he was wrong, but a voice deep inside insisted he was right.

"You felt my dark magic, haven't you? Just to make sure..." he asked in a polite tone.

"Yeah, I felt it. But what does that have to do with anything?" she replied, managing to block the harshness in her voice.

Erebus laughed a bit, drawing the glare of the whole audience. "There is no evil or good in magic, only in the hearts that use it." he said. "I hope you'll understand that."

Nala only managed to nod, her fists still clenched at her sides.

"Anything else? The assembly's over and we're getting our dorms." he asked kindly.

Nala shook her head, taking a deep breath to help get rid of her anger. "No. You've given me plenty to think about already."

"Nice to know." he said. His eyes widened a bit as he put a finger up to his right ear. "It's you... you don't know how much misery you've given me... damn you and your family... and to pay you back I'll gut your precious daughter-"

Her anger burst in the empty arena as she roundhouse kicked him in the back, knocking him off the stage. She ran out, restraining the tears forming in her eyes.

"I will get you, uncle." before ending the magic comlink. He got up while violently shaking, clenching his fist tightly and letting his nails pierce the skin on his palm. _She hates me, doesn't she? _he wondered as blood ran down his fingers.

* * *

><p><em>Go to hell, Erebus. I'd wish your soul would be Satan's dinner, over and over again!<em>

She stood in Faith's gym, pounding away at a punching bag. Drustan had recommended it so that she wouldn't end up killing someone.

She felt her fists slowly grew bruises as she continued to punch the bag. She had been too angry to even think about boxing gloves, or any type of protective equipment for that matter, and now that she had started, there was no stopping her. _Who does he think he is?! Giving me some sort of light to my confusion, gaining my trust a little bit, and then threatening to kill me?! Maybe I should gut him too! _

Drustan watched from the side, and Nala could feel him watching her every move.

"You sure you don't want that wrap, Nala? It only takes a moment. You won't be able to move your hands tomorrow if you don't-" Drustan started, concern in his voice.

"For the last time, Drustan, I said I'm fine!" Nala growled. "If you aren't going to leave me alone about it, go away."

Inside, she was a maelstrom of emotions, tearing her apart emotionally. _The next time I see you, I will kill you. That's it. Kill you so that you'll go straight to hell._

_Get over here now so I can wipe that smug smile off your face!_

As if God was listening, Erebus broke through the window of the gym, landing on his back.

Nala turned and smirked slightly. _Perfect._ She started to walk over to Erebus with the intent to kill. Fire lit up her fists.

"You know... mind stopping for a moment?" he asked as a shadowy assassin leapt down from the rafters in the gym. "You're the last person I'd want to fight."

Drustan leaped up from his chair and pinned Nala to the wall. "Leave him alone, Nala. He's already fighting someone, and it's not worth it. You ended up in the hospital last time, remember?"

"It's perfectly fine if she wants to kill me. Just let me deal with some really dark magicians..." Erebus said as he flipped onto his feet, facing the shadow-covered killer. "I hate my remaining family."

Nala glared at Drustan, but remained silent and still. Drustan slowly let her go, and she stood next to him, watching Erebus and the assassin.

The attack lunged at him, with a lethal blade in his grip. A low growl like that of a beast emanated from the shadowy figure.

Nala clenched her fists, wondering whether she should help Erebus or not. _Maybe if he gets close to losing. I'm going to be the one who kills him._

"They." He smashed a knee into the attacker's stomach.

"Never." He created a shadowy knife in his hand.

"Learn." He impaled the assassin through the heart, his shadow piercing through him as blood spurted out. "These guys are annoying."

Nala blinked slowly then turned and started to walk away, out the gym. _Why is it that my anger always fades after he's been around for a while?! _She sighed in annoyance as she headed towards her dorm.

As she walked away, Erebus looked at her sadly. _She's still going to kill me, but not today... I guess._

Drustan stood and walked over to Erebus, clapping his hand on Erebus' shoulder. "That was quite the fight, are you alright?"

"Yeah... but I hope Nala doesn't hold my comment against me..." he groaned. "The reason she's mad is because she thought I swore to kill her. It's anything but..."

"Kid, aren't you a darkness magician? Don't you have bad ancestors?" Drustan asked.

"Bad doesn't do them justice. My ancestors are infamous, and boy am I suffering because of it..." replied Erebus. "At my strongest I'd kill everyone at the cost my self-control. And you know a tool's useless if you can't use it properly."

"Yeah... isn't that the truth. It's a shame about your ancestors though. You seem like a nice kid." Drustan said. "Well I better go find Nala before she ends up killing someone. I'll see yah around." Drustan started to jog off in the same direction Nala ran off in.

"That's coming from the guy who literally blasted me out of the sky." Erebus muttered in a low voice. Fortunately, Drustan didn't hear the comment as he rushed out of the gym.

"Oi! Which dorm room does she have, by the way?" he asked, his long black hair covering his eyes.

"I dunno. You'll have to find out yourself, kiddo." the brown-haired assistant teacher shouted back before he exited the door.

* * *

><p>Erebus took out a key from his left pocket and fitted it into the doorknob, opening up the heavy oak gate of his dorm room. <em>This is a co-ed room... Faith's pretty famous for it. Wonder who's sharing the room with me?<em>

He stepped into the top level room, exhaling as he scanned the room. To the left was a furnished kitchen, with a magic refrigerator to keep ingredients cool. In the center, there was 3 sets of couches surrounding one large circular table, also made of oak. The right wall had two doors. Erebus assumed one of them was the sleeping area, and the other the bathroom. In front of him were curtains, but he knew that an amazing view of Faith's campus lied behind the covers.

_Faith, you are overdoing yourself! _he wondered, awestruck at the simple and homey feel the room gave off. He rolled his suitcase to the right wall, quietly opening the door to not disturb anyone in there. He checked on the other resident.

There were two beds on opposite sides of the bedroom. A girl with silvery hair was sleeping on the bed next to the door, hugging her pillow tightly as if it was a teddy bear.

_So she's my dorm mate. I'll get her name when she wakes up. _he thought as he closed the door. _I'm starving..._

He briskly walked to the fridge, opening it to find some food supplies. He examined the ingredients before taking out a package of lettuce, two tomatoes, a loaf of bread, and some beef. _She might be hungry, so I'll stick with something simple. Sometimes simplicity is best._

As he cooked the burgers to medium-rare using a pan provided by the high school, he sliced pieces of bread, toasting them to a warm brown color. _I always knew Faith was a boarding school, but man this is like a college!_

Finishing up the plate, he artistically placed the various foodstuffs together, creating 6 burgers: three for him and three for his dorm mate. He placed the ingredients back into the fridge before cleaning up the kitchen.

_Should I wake her up? _he wondered. _The food's gonna get cold._

As if on cue, the girl walked out of the room, her violet eyes still cloudy with sleep. Her silver hair was somewhat messy. She held the pillow loosely at her side. "Mmmm... Something smells good..." she mumbled drowsily.

_Wait a minute... she looks really familiar... looks exactly like Nala. _Erebus thought. _No, wait a minute... DON'T TELL ME, OH GOD! _"NALA!?"

The girl jumped, dropping the pillow. She was immediately awake. "THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN HERE!?" she burst out. Her fists flew up, lit with flames.

"This... is.. a really bad... coincidence..." he spoke up, sweating a bit. "And seriously, eat the food. I'm not gonna start wasting the fridge, and I'm sure I can't eat 6 hamburgers alone."

"You probably poisoned it."

"I don't eat poison. Leave that to the rest of my family, not me. Plus, it's not good manners to poison your dorm mate, even if they hate you."

"Prove it." Nala commanded, folding her arms across her chest defensively.

He took a burger and took a bite out of it. "See? No poison! I'm not dying! No more excuses, just eat!"

"What if I'm not-" She broke off as her stomach rumbled and sighed in defeat. "Fine." Nala reluctantly grabbed a burger off of the plate. "If I die, I'm coming back to haunt you." She started to eat it slowly.

"Oh you better." he commented, finishing his first burger.

"Or what?" Nala raised her eyebrow. She slowly started to eat her first burger faster, realizing it tasted decently. It was far better than the food from any of the restaurants she had been to before.

"I never said I didn't know how to make poison." he said with a straight face.

Nala stopped chewing for a moment, then shrugged. "I'd already be dead, so what would the poison do to me?"

"Hmm... depends on which one I use. I'd choose ricin, from the castor bean." Erebus replied. "Do you know how to cook?"

Nala narrowed her eyes slightly, "Thankfully, yes I do... I only know how to cook simple things though; the easier stuff good on missions."

"Phew, so I don't have to be the chef here?"

She shook her head and took the last bite of the burger. After she chewed and swallowed, she spoke. "No. As long as you don't mind that not all the meals we eat will be as fancy as this, we'll be fine. Mostly."

"What!?" he burst out. "Listen, you have basic cooking. I admire that. But cooking is an art! It has shades of flavor, texture, even heating! Cooking is art, like the guys who made masterpiece paintings! You may have the basics, but I have the shades of cooking!"

Nala shrugged, "Cooking is just a way to sustain yourself. All I've bothered to learn about is the basics because that's all I needed to know." She smirked. "How about I turn you into a shade of flavor?"

"I think I'm fine the way I am. It's a waste to use me as a flavor, though I have no doubt you can do it."

Nala shrugged, rolling her eyes. "You're no fun."

"Says the girl who used me as a punching bag." he muttered as he lied down on the couch. "You can take the bedroom, I'll have the couch. I'm lazy like that."

"Of course. Though I didn't expect a slacker like you to be a cook."

"Yeah... well, at least I did my homework, mom."

"I'M NOT YOUR PARENT!"

"Well you sure act like it. You really do care about me, don't you?"

"WHY'D I CARE ABOUT A JERK LIKE YOU!?"

"Why are you still talking to me?"

"It's-" she roared, stopping to consider his point. "Jerk."

"Call me whatever you want, Miss Sunshine."

"ARE YOU ASKING FOR A BEATING?!"

"I'm asking you not to burn the place down. I can deal with a wood floor, but concrete is just plain nasty."

Naka turned her head, folding her arms across her chest.

"Aren't you positive..." he sighed. He walked over to the door linking to the hallways, opening it fractionally. Immediately he slammed it shut and and locked the door. "The horror..."

Nala jumped and turned to him. "What was that all about?!"

"Do I strike you as a person who has a lot of fangirls?"

Nala raised an eyebrow. "Not at all. Why?"

"Then explain to me how there's a crowd of them at our front door." he replied, groaning.

"I don't believe that there is." Nala stated.

Erebus dragged her to the door, unlocking it and again opening it. "We're doomed."

Nala struggled in protest, but froze as she looked out the door. She blinked a couple of times before nodding. "Yes. Yes we are..."

He slammed the door closed again, locking it magically. "And that time it grew... I'm afraid to say, but you've got fanboys now."

Nala groaned slightly. "Well, isn't this wonderful." sarcasm laced her voice.

"Don't you say..." he replied, letting go of her as he sat on the couch.

"Well, I guess we'll have to work together. After all, we do share a common enemy..." she said, plopping down on the opposite side of the couch.

"Damn fans. Always getting in the way..."

Nala nodded in agreement. "Yeah, no kidding... If you'd like to go somewhere though, I guess I could always blind them so you can slip away..."

Erebus winked as he placed his hand in the shadow of the couch. In front of her eyes, his arm disappeared into the shadows. "I have my methods."

"Fine. Show off." she grumbled, folding her arms across her chest once more.

"Ask if-" he replied before quickly extracting his arm out of the shadow. It was slightly pinkish when his arm went in- now it was dyed black and blue. "Should've paid attention..." he muttered before shivering.

Nala looked at his arm, confused and curious. "How did that happen?"

"If I don't flow magic in my body while in the shadows, my body will freeze to death." Erebus replied, rubbing his arm as color returned to it.

She shivered slightly. "I see..."

"Shadow traveling is always dangerous. If I focused we could use it all the way to our classes."

"After that, I'm not sure if I want to..." Nala said quietly.

"Okay..." he sighed. "Let's just stick with you blinding them. It's simple, and simple things don't break as often."

Nala nodded. "Sounds good to me."

"Alright then... now, about the matter of our classes." Erebus began. He took a sky-blue slip of paper from his pocket and unfolded it, opening up to reveal a schedule.

Nala scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "I didn't get the chance to get my schedule..."

"Because someone stole it?" he asked, holding up another blue schedule with her name on it.

She glared at him and snatched the schedule out of his hand. "Seriously? Not cool." She looked over her schedule slowly, grumbling something under her breath.

"We share all the same classes you know..." he muttered. "All advanced classes. No freshie can ever dream that high."

Nala nodded slowly. "Sweet. That's a plus then I guess." She seemed distracted in a way before folding up the paper. "So when do we start going to classes and stuff?"

"In a week. In which case, we've gotta explore Faith, find who's chill or not, and see if there's anything interesting in general."

She nodded and chuckled softly. "Alright. That'll be kind of hard though with that group sitting outside our door, though..."

Erebus got up, checking the oak door leading out from the hallway. "Looks all clear outside. They must've given up, or they're waiting, setting traps..."

He opened the door, revealing a even larger crowd of fangirls and fanboys. They burst into the dorm room, with the fangirls swarming all over him. "DAMMIT! IT'S DOOMSDAY!"

A tic mark emerged on Nala's head as she swiftly knocked out the mob of fanboys marching towards her. With an angry and fierce look she stared at the fangirls on Erebus. "What do you think you're doing with my guy?" she asked maliciously, clenching her fist as it burst into flames.

The fangirls immediately swarmed back out the doorway, pushing back the crowd. Apparently, the only thing stronger than fans was fans with adrenaline.

Nala dragged out the unconscious fanboys, piling them up into a barricade to block future fans. "Well, that was a failure." she said as she locked the oak door.

Erebus slowly got up, deliberately turning his face away from her. "Mildly putting it." he replied. "And about what you said to those fangirls... that was... awkward."

"Huh?" she asked as she walked towards him. As she did so, she tripped forwards, crashing into him and landing on top of him.

He instinctively turned his head towards her, revealing a light blush on his cheeks. "O-Oh god..." he muttered, stuttering as his breathing sped up.

Nala gasped slightly, her face slowly heating up and turning red. She gazed into his eyes for a moment. A flash of recognition flashed across her face and she quickly rolled off of him. She resisted the urge to curl up in a ball as that fateful day crossed through her mind. Nala began to shiver uncontrollably as she watched her squadron die in front of her eyes all over again. _It was him! He's the reason I'm stuck here! He killed them! _She felt as if the world was spinning, and she forced herself to calm her sporadic breathing. _I could confront him right here right now... No. He's too strong... He could just kill me with ease... _

_But then... why isn't he killing me? It's as clear as day and night! We're supposed to fight!_

Erebus's colorless eyes stared at her with concern. "You okay there-?"

Nala jumped at the sound of his voice. She stood up and kicked him sharply in the ribs. "That's for making me trip into you perv!"

"How is that my fault?" he asked in between groans as he rubbed where she kicked him.

"With your shadow magic!" Nala retorted.

"I have no reason to even think about that!"

"Yeah! Sure! Whatever!" Nala yelled in response before turning quickly on her heel and storming into the bedroom. She slammed the door behind her, causing a couple of glasses to shake in the cupboards.

"...Well, goodnight." Erebus said. He took his rolling luggage and wheeled it to the couch. Opening it, he extracted a pillow and two blankets, one thick and the other thin. Sighing, he lied down on the couch and created a makeshift bed. He turned off the light, going to sleep quickly.

A few hours passed by, and Nala quietly slipped out of the bedroom. She inched over to the couch as carefully as she could. _Now's my chance... If I kill him now, I can plead innocence... Maybe even gain respect from my father..._

"Damn you..." he muttered in his sleep.

Nala froze at the sound of Erebus's voice.

"You're... the one... who's the killer..." he hissed while asleep.

Nala shook her head. It felt like he was talking directly to her. _I was only following orders..._She whispered in her mind to him, even though she knew he couldn't hear her.

He stopped talking as he exhaled deeply.

Nala sighed, shaking her head and hesitantly turning around. _I can't do this... it isn't right... _Nala slowly and quietly returned to the sleeping quarters and closed the door softly behind her and shuffled over to her bed. She crawled under the bedding and resisted her head on the pillow. She closed her eyes and slowly fell into the blackness of sleep, escaping the catastrophic day and her own tormented thoughts.

Silently, with trained steps, Erebus opened the door without any sound at all. He quietly looked at Nala as she hugged her pillow tightly. "Man... that hurt..." he whispered. "You definitely are sunshine..."

He kneeled by her bed, his face level with her's. In a moment he gently kissed her forehead before retreating with a blush unnoticeable in the night.

"Get some rest, sunshine." he whispered before stealthily walking out the door as she released her death hug with the pillow.


	4. Rune 3: Down to Earth

Rune 3: Down to Earth

"Wake up, time to explore." urged Erebus as he shook Nala. "Come on, it's morning."

Nala punched him in the gut, causing him to fall onto the floor and curl up. "Give me a reason." she groaned.

"Breakfast is served. I'm making tea."

Immediately she swung out of bed, deliberately stepping on him as she stood up to her full height. "Get out, I'm changing." she said, teasingly pulling up her shirt. _Let's see how much of a pervert he is..._

He burst out of her room, closing the door behind him. Breathing heavily, he sat on the couch, panting. "That was hell." he said, looking at the kitchen. He frowned slightly.

Across from him were two new oak doors he knew were recently built. _That construction magic speed... _he thought as he opened the doors.

One was another bathroom, similar to the one on the other side of the dorm. The other door opened up to another bedroom, with two beds and a large door that he knew was a closet. _Is anyone new going to be here? _he wondered as he closed the door quietly.

"EREBUS! EXPLAIN TO ME!" burst out Nala as she opened the door, glaring at him accusingly."WHAT'S UP WITH A NEW DOOR IN MY BEDROOM!?"

"Faith did it." he explained, pointing at the new pair of doors behind him. "They also did this, so I'm half expecting new dormates."

"Which would be nice. This room is too big for two people, but I bet it's perfect for four!" she commented. "Do you always wear the same thing?"

"These are fresh." he replied. _I wear similar black shirts and jeans, though I occasionally wear a jacket._

"Wear something else to not look like a slacker!" she growled. She was dressed in regular jeans, with a white t-shirt that went well with her silvery hair.

Erebus sighed as he dug into his suitcase, pulling out a black and white jacket. A square pattern, alternating between the two colors, was present on the fabric as he put it on. "Better?"

"Definitely! Now time for breakfast!" she replied, dashing past him. _You need food to take down a monster! _She wolfed down the pancakes and french toast on her plate, supplementing them with copious amounts of maple syrup and fruit.

Erebus watched, almost in shock. _What's gotten into her?_ he wondered to himself as he sat down across the table from her and proceeded to eat.

"My french toast!" _New strategy: starve him! _she thought as she stole his food.

He finished eating his toast and pancakes, carrying her dish and beginning to wash it. "Anything else- oh wait, I forgot the tea!" he said, finishing off her hoard of food.

"Huh?" she asked blankly, staring at an empty plate in front of her. _Did he... switch out my plate with his? That little-!_

"Here you go. Peppermint tea. I have cream and sugar if you want." he said, gently placing a teacup in front of her. He poured the tea into her cup, placing another plate with the typical cream and sugar. "Enjoy."

"When did you become my butler?" she muttered. _It's as if nothing happened yesterday, like he completely forgot about my beatings!_

"Food is kinda like a family affair. Everyone deserves some of it." he replied, placing the teapot in the middle of the table. "How is it?"

"...Decent." she replied after obvious hesitation. _This... is... amazing!_

"Glad you liked it. Hopefully we can explore this place without the fanboys and fangirls now..."

Nala shuddered as she remembered the scene of invading fanboys. She didn't regret any of the K.O.s she caused. _Ah, they're like locusts..._

Erebus unlocked the oak door leading to the hallway, opening it slightly. His eyes widened slightly as he walked outside. "All clear-"

"HELP ME!" burst out a brown haired girl as she ran down the hallway with a rolling suitcase. Behind her was a stampede of fanboys, catching up to her as they swung their arms.

On the other end of the hallway, the normal Nala and Erebus fans burst out, running towards the open door. "Quick! Get them!"

Nala shoved Erebus out of her way to see the mob. "NOT AGAIN!" _This is ridiculous! Also, what's up with that girl!_

He sighed, facepalming as he stared the girl. _The combination of your friendly next door neighbor with sexiness... _"The only reason they're chasing her is because of those-"

"Divine Light: Blinding Flash." Nala stated calmly as a bright flash of light erupted from her hand. She quickly shoved both Erebus and the girl into the dorm and slammed the door in the mob's faces.

"Oh, thank you." she said, oblivious that she landed on Erebus's back. "Hey, what a coincidence! This is my dorm room!" She was dressed in a green tanktop and blue jeans, wearing a leather jacket over her slim body.

Nala smiled softly. "Well, lucky you huh?" She reached down to help the girl up. "I'm Nala, and you are?"

"Jean Terrami." the brown-haired girl replied, looking at her with vivid green eyes. "I'm a Earth magician. And-"

A letter rushed from under the door. Erebus opened it, frowning as he read the contents. "Give us the F-cup beauty or else we'll stalk you forever." he read out loud. "I was right about why they chased her. Sexiness overload."

"I knew I landed on something or someone, but I didn't expect it to be a guy!" Jean said as she bent down, looking at him. "Your name?"

"It's-"

"Stand up!" Nala ordered as she stomped on his back harshly. "You may be a slacker, but sleeping on the floor ain't right!"

"Ow! Okay, okay!" he groaned as he got onto his feet. "Erebus Acheron. Nice to meet you-"

"You're Erebus!?" Jean burst out, giggling a bit. "You've gotta be kidding me-"

"I'm serious..."

"Well I'm serious too. Your real name?"

"It's Erebus. Seriously. Why else do you think Nala is beating the hell out of me?"

"She hates you?"

"Nala's an Inquisitor. I'm a darkness wizard. Doesn't exactly work well, doesn't it?"

"Oh, I see... so you are the top wizard at the application exam!"

"Yeah... Nala got all the good opponents though. I'm not surprised she lost."

"YOU LITTLE SMUDGE!" Nala burst as she roundhouse kicked him in the side of the head, knocking him out. "SLACKER!"

"Uh... Nala, you didn't have to do that..." Jean said. "He's a good person-"

"HE TORTURED ME USING MAGIC!"

"That doesn't mean you can bash his brain out when he offends you!"

"Look, are we going to argue about this, or get somewhere? For starters, you haven't even unpacked."

"Oh yeah... mind I take a bed next to yours so we have a girl's room? I don't want to deal with boys invading our privacy..."

"Got it. Besides, Erebus over there sleeps on the couch, not on a bed. Of course you can take a bed."

"Thanks! Can we have a little question and answer time? You know, get to know you time?"

"Ah... I think we could do that!" exclaimed Nala. _It'd also help me to see if Erebus is really the one who killed my comrades!_

Jean took off her leather jacket, covering Erebus. She then managed to drag him towards the couch, finally rolling him into place. "You may not like him, but he seems to be there for you sometimes." she said as she checked his head. "He'll have a bruise on the side of his head, but otherwise he's fine."

"Well, aren't we going to do anything?" Nala asked. "It's not like he's an interesting person!"

She sighed, her green eyes shifting towards him. "You're right, though I'm really confused about why you hurt him, out of all the people here."

"Well I'm not the kind to hurt people without a reason."

"You don't have a reason." Jean replied. "In fact, you should be thanking him for what he's done."

"I don't."

"Then who made breakfast?"

"Uh... Erebus. French toast, pancakes, even some tea-"

"He made it, making sure you had some?"

"No! He stole my food!"

"Because you were stealing his?"

"Ye- I MEAN NO! HE'S BEEN STEALING FROM ME SINCE YESTERDAY!"

"And what did he do in the hospital?"

"F***ING HOLDING MY HAND!"

"Weren't you in pain?"

"I WAS!"

"And what happened after he held your hand, then? You really need to apologize."

"I DON'T NEED TO!"

"Listen, I can tell you're bitter over your defeat at his hands. You're bitter because of his magic that tortured you. Can't you see he's trying to be nice to you? He's going out of his way to help you, and all you do is smack him around!"

"Then why did he heal you, huh? Your typical enemy isn't that nice."

"BECAUSE- WAIT WHAT!?"

Jean sighed as Nala began fuming. "You heard. Erebus, your enemy, healed you."

As Nala began protesting, her mind began spiraling in pandemonium. _Did he or did he not!? It's absolutely possible! He was the only one there when the pain subsided! In fact, he's the only one in there that whole f***ing at that time! Did he or did he not!?_

_That magic that healed me was definitely darkness! But it seemed off... way more gentle and calming than typical darkness! It's nothing like the anger and stew of emotions that dark magicians use!_

"G-GIVE ME PROOF! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" burst out Nala, stammering as a blush formed on her face. _WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS!?_

Jean brushed her hair aside, looking into her violet eyes. "I do volunteer hours in the hospital. I was watching."

"THERE WAS ONLY A NURSE AFTER I BEAT HIM DOWN!"

She sighed, bringing her hand up to her brown hair. She tied it back into a bun, then stood up taller. "Recognize me? If not, I'll just put on my nurse uniform."

Nala's eyes widened as her sight traced Jean's outline. "Y-you... you were there..." _Jean's that nurse I saw!?_

"Yep. I can kinda get why you went and beat him up, cause you seemed pretty disoriented."

"W-WELL WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO!?"

"Maybe give him a hug, make him feel better."

"I WILL NOT-"

"Hey, you're giving me the worst nap ever..." groaned Erebus as he sat up, with Jean's leather jacket on his lap. He scratched the back of his head, where Nala kicked him. "What happened-?"

"Ah, you okay?" asked Jean, her pretty face hovering in front of his. "Nala gave you a nasty roundhouse there."

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine now. But there's a little fuzziness in the back of my head." he reported.

"Oh? Stay still for a moment." she ordered. She stood up, walking towards her suitcase. Extracting a little glass vial filled with a watery green substance, she returned to the couch. "Say 'ahh", will you?"

"Huh?"

She uncorked the vial. "Just open your mouth."

"Uh... what is that?"

"Herbs designed to take away the fuzziness in the back of your head."

"I'll just take it now-"

"No, I have to administer it, so pucker up!"

Nala's cheeks immediately heated up as she felt an unfamiliar feeling. She didn't say anything to stop it though, and just rolled her eyes, folding her arms across her chest. "I'm going to the gym." she said in monotone before briskly walking out and closing the door behind her. There were sounds of complaint and a couple of thuds as Nala took out the mob of fanboys and fangirls sitting outside.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" burst out Erebus as he smashed open the door, running away from Jean. "I'M ALREADY FEELING BETTER, JEAN!"

"STAY STILL SO I CAN FINISH THE TREATMENT!" ordered Jean as she followed him closely.

"SO YOU CAN KISS ME!? FIRST KISSES ARE SACRED!"

"SHUT UP AND TAKE IT LIKE A MAN!" retorted Jean.

He broke through the window, freefalling down the dorm building. "NOPE! NEVER GONNA HAPPEN!"

"YOU BAKA!" roared Nala as she long jumped out the broken window, trailing behind him. "YOU'RE DEAD, IDIOT!" She snatched his hand, holding on tightly. _Maybe I can create thrust with my fire magic..._

Effortlessly he flipped her into his arms, carrying her bridal style. They both stopped falling to the hard ground around the dorms.

"The windows were faster, and did you really think I'd jump out without something like this?" Erebus said as they both gained altitude.

Nala, with the light from the full moon, could see that he had pitch-black wings as they flapped in the air. _I take it back, he isn't a good magician. He's a master! Still, he's so young! Even though I'm pretty good at my magic, he's just amazing!_

_God dammit! When can I kill him?!_

Nala realized she was staring and quickly turned her head to look out at the sky.

"If you were a bit more emotional with your fire magic, you'd be amazing." Erebus offhandedly noted. "Your plan would've worked, with the magic thrusters."

Nala whipped her head around to face him. "How did you know I was planning on doing that?!"

"Your orientation, and the fact that your feet were on fire."

She nodded slowly. "Oh... I hadn't realized I already started using my flames..." She squirmed uncomfortably in his arms before feeling a strong beat. _Huh? It's beating so fast!_ She felt her face heating up again and turned to face the night sky around them once more.

"Don't touch my face..." he murmured as he landed at the end of the hallway. Two scents floated around him. _Ah... one is her... she smells like incense- KEEP IT OUT OF YOUR MIND! But the other one..._

_My shirt's burnt, isn't it?_

"Erebus-kun!" burst Jean as she rushed towards him. "The heck happened? I'm so sorry-"

"It's fine. It's partly my fault." he replied. "You good Nala-"

"O-of course..." Nala responded. "Just... STOP HOLDING ME! YOU'RE ALMOST HALF-NAKED!"

An army of fangirls rose up from the floor below, armed with magic cameras. "OH MY GOD, EREBUS'S HERE! QUICK, CATCH HIM!"

Nala swore under her breath, muttering. "Where do these people come from?"

"There's around 11 other floors below ours. We took out all of the 12th floor's fans, but the rest of the dorm... Jean, grab onto me-"

"With pleasure." Jean cheerily replied, hugging him from behind. "So what's up?"

Nala grumbled in annoyance. "Well, they must be clairvoyant or something. We can't go anywhere without them showing their faces..."

"Start flowing some magic in your bodies. We're shadow traveling." Erebus announced. "Heavy coats won't help."

Nala nodded slowly and followed his instructions immediately, already knowing what would happen if she didn't.

Jean was hesitant, but soon followed suit, allowing her magic to flow through her body. The whole time she was curious as to what Erebus was planning to do.

"Hold on!" he ordered as his shadow consumed them, sending them into the darkness. "I'll make hot chocolate for you two after this, if you survive!"

Nala nodded, too scared to scream any words, ended up tightening her grip around Erebus despite her best efforts with her self control. She shivered slightly from the chill of the shadows.

Jean shivered a bit as well, but managed not to squeeze him into a death grip. She closed her eyes and attempted to relax. She was still, save from the slight shivering of her body.

The darkness unwrapped itself around them, revealing their dorm room. There was another army of fans sitting in there, messing around with their possessions.

Annoyed, Erebus snapped his fingers, causing every fan's shadow to wrap around its owner into a pitch-black cocoon.

Nala looked around, almost in shock, but quickly managed to slide out of Erebus's hold. "So, what's next?"

"Besides dragging these idiots out of here and making you girls hot chocolate? Taking a damn shower." he replied, throwing a poor fan out the door.

Jean laughed. "Care if I join you in that?"

"Sure, unless you're talking about the shower." Erebus replied as he kicked a few cocoons out of the dorm. "Men's privacy is underrated."

"Huh?"

"It's a school-wide scandal when the boys peep on the girls at a spa in the school. But there's practically no eyebrows raised when women are peeping on men. It's an odd problem, considering the public should be embarrassed at both sets of private parts." he explained as he finished deporting the fans. He locked the oak doors, making sure that the magic was secure and properly cast.

Jean folded her arms across her chest. "Fine. You're no fun."

Nala ignored the impulse to smack Jean and headed into the kitchen. "I'll make dinner tonight, Erebus."

"Alright. I'll make some hot chocolate as promised after my shower." he said, walking to the not girl's side bathroom and opening the door. "I'll make it quick."

Nala nodded. "Alright. Sounds good." She got to work, running around the kitchen to make fried rice. The sound of flowing water and sizzling food droned into background noise. _What was that feeling?_

She remembered her face heating up as an unfamiliar emotion flooded into her when Erebus was carrying her. _What was that?_

She remembered the sudden urge to smack Jean as she tried to have her way. _Why did I do that? It's not my matter!_ As she piled food onto three plates she searched for Jean. _She better not-_

"Erebus! Truth or dare~?"

"Dare. Seriously, I'm not telling you a truth."

"Ha ha~! I dare you to be half-naked when you get out the shower~!"

Nala barely resisted the urge to smash her frying pan into Jean's head. _What's her problem!? It's not like he'll come out like that! If anything, I'd see him wrap her own shadow around her! What the hell!?_

The bathroom door opened, revealing a shirtless Erebus with typical black jeans on. "Dare accepted."

Jean's eyes widened, a heavy blush forming as she cupped her hands around her heart. "O-oh my g-god..." she muttered, completely embarrassed. _He's so sexy! That perfect slim body and musculature!_

Her life flashed before her eyes. As she had a serious nosebleed, she dreamily murmured "No regrets...", fainting in a pool of blood.

"EREBUS!" roared Nala as she charged at him, smashing a fist into his chest. _That should do it... wait... WHAT IS THIS MUSCULATURE!?_

To her surprise, his muscles were powerful and well-defined, defying her expectation of a slacker's flabby body. In response she pivoted on her left foot, preparing another infamous roundhouse kick.

Nala caught his gaze and froze, her foot inches away from his head. She felt her heart beat speeding up. Her cheeks once again flushed with color. _Why?! He always seems to lower my defenses at times like these. Is that his master plan?! Weaken me to the point where I can't even attack him?!_

Erebus realized that Nala's gaze was locked on his, and his heart rate sped up in response. Despite his best efforts, a light blush dusted his cheeks. He cleared his throat. "You okay Nala?" he asked.

Nala quickly dropped her leg and pivoted around so that her back was to him, her gaze now on the floor. _This feeling... it keeps getting stronger... _"Yeah. I'm fine. Dinner's ready." she said quickly, trying to rein in her emotions and change the subject. She headed towards the kitchen, carefully stepping around Jean and the pool of blood around her.

Behind her, Erebus exhaled, putting on his black t-shirt. "As promised, I be making some hot chocolate. Just let me put Jean on the couch."

"Alright." Nala said as she began making a plate for Erebus and herself. "Should I make a plate for Jean too?" she asked without looking up.

"Sure. I wager she'll have an appetite after that... overload." he commented as he easily lifted Jean's limp body onto the couch. "Plus she's our dorm mate. We can't have her starve now, it'd be an issue. Especially before classes start."

"The true darkness..." the brown-haired beauty murmured, breathing faster. "Those shadowy wings, those colorless eyes..."

Both Nala and Erebus stared at Jean, completely lost. "Why is she talking about me?" Erebus asked.

"Because she's obsessed with you." replied Nala as she set down two plates with fried rice on the table and one on the counter for Jean.

"That doesn't explain the 'true darkness' part." he pointed out as he picked up his food.

"That magic... the mastery... Dad, I've found the true darkness." Jean continued on, clenching her fists. "You told me 'Find faith, and you will see true darkness.', and you were so right. I found him."

"Her talking is creeping me out a bit..." commented Erebus as he finished off his food. "What happened to her dad? From what I'm hearing, she's an orphan."

Nala nodded in agreement. "Yeah... It is kind of unnerving..." She started eating slowly.

Jean shivered. "I remember the day you took me in when I was abandoned, old sage in the forest. You taught me how to use my magic... and you get killed by dark magicians. I was happy that I could talk to you one last time... listening to your final words. And I swear, I'll find him."

Erebus was sitting on a chair next to Jean, checking her temperature. "Did she just swear to kill me?"

"Sounded a lot like it. But hey, you're getting more beatings! That should make you happy!" Nala offhandedly replied, mocking him.

"Yeah... I guess it's time to tuck in-" he said.

A formally written letter slid under their door, addressed to the whole dorm room. It was small like a postcard, with firm black ink writing on it.

"They actually sent it to 'that dorm room up on the top floor'" commented Nala, mildly surprised. "Let's see... due to a temporal accident in a laboratory here at Faith, day may be switched with night. We are working on it, and will have the time right by lunch. In your case, it would be within the hour."

"That has got to be the most complicated explanation ever. Also, dammit! We already had dinner! I'm not having it again!"

As he facepalmed himself, the moon slowly set, gaining speed as the sun perched up to its zenith. True to the letter, the sun indicated it was lunchtime.

Nala grinned a bit. "No wonder I can't sleep! I don't take naps!"

"Well, at least we've used half of our day." Erebus responded as he walked up to the kitchen. "How'd you like your hot chocolate?"

"Umm... I dunno." Nala stated, pondering her favorite flavor. "Maybe white chocolate." He opened the fridge, taking out a bar of white chocolate, some milk, and a bag of marshmallows. As he melted the chocolate, he looked back, checking on Jean. In a matter of minutes he had two warm cups of hot chocolate on the counter.

Nala reached over and grabbed a cup. She brought the warm liquid to her lips and sipped softly. The flavor exploded in her mouth, causing her to smile. She wouldn't admit that it was the best hot chocolate that she had tasted.

"That smell... white chocolate?" Jean murmured as she sat up on the couch. She was still dizzy from her nosebleed. "Erebus?"

"Here's your cup of chocolate." he replied, setting her cup down on the table near the couch. "How are you?"

Jean rubbed the back of her head a little. "I'm a little dizzy, but other than that I'm good." she replied as she picked up her cup of hot chocolate.

"Ah, that's nice. Just regain your strength before you get up, okay?"

Jean nodded, gushing in her mind. _Aww! He cares so much about me! It must be love!_ She kept her thoughts to herself as she took a sip of the chocolate. "Erebus! This is the best hot chocolate I've ever tasted! How did you do it?!"

"That's a trade secret." he replied, winking. "I can teach it though."

Jean blushed some. _He winked at me! _she thought as she smiled. "That would be awesome!" she said, elated.

"Nice to know. By the way, it's only midday. Apparently some kind of time- whatever it is. Switched day and night around." Erebus replied.

"Really?" Jean asked, scratching her head.

"Yep. We even got a letter." Nala said, holding up the letter. "They even addressed it as 'that dorm room up on the top floor', which I find odd and somewhat comedic."

"How strange..." Jean replied thoughtfully. "So does that mean it's lunch time or what?"

"Pretty much. But... since we've already had some dinner, I guess we've had lunch. Just... don't ask me about time manipulation. That took forever for me to understand." Erebus said. "You up and ready?"

Jean nodded in response. "Yeah. I'm feeling better."

"Good. We'll be out doing some training. After all, we've still got some time before school starts." replied Nala.

Jean remembered her foster father's words. _Find faith, and you will see true darkness. I wonder... _she thought, looking carefully at Erebus. "Is it okay if I train with Erebus?"

Nala rolled her eyes. "Jean. You're staring again." she muttered in annoyance. "You coming with or not?"

"Huh!? Oh yeah, sure!" Jean stuttered as she swung off of the couch. "Where's the gym?"

Erebus answered for Nala. "It's down at the end of the hallway. Come on, let's go."

"Aren't we forgetting the fans?"

* * *

><p>"And so, after avoiding an army of fanboys and girls, we've reached the gym" Nala panted, bending down and resting her hands on her knees. "We need to set traps."<p>

"Agreed." Jean spoke up, standing up. "That was so tiring, and I'm in pretty good shape... But Erebus, how darn fast are you!?"

"That's also a trade secret." Erebus slyly replied. "We'll start training. You did ask for a practice match against me, right?"

"Ah, yeah I did!" Jean said.

Another army of fans flooded into the gym, begging for a match against Jean. "I WANT ONE-"

Erebus shot a glare at them, instantly silencing them. Within seconds they burst out the small exit, pushing back more fanboys and fangirls.

"We really need to coin 'The only thing stronger than fans are fans with adrenaline.', because that is so true." Nala commented, both shocked and relieved. "How'd you do that?"

"The Acheron family has had a lot of training on giving a death glare." he replied, scratching his head. "That's one of the few things useful from my damn family."

"What else?" both of them asked.

"You'll maybe see another one when we fight. Shall we?" He gestured towards the training ring.

Jean giggled before brushing aside her hair. "Alright! I'll get you~!"

Once again, Nala resisted the urge to smack Jean in the back of her head. She clenched her fist. _Seriously, what's up with her? Does she like him?_

Standing on one side of the ring, Erebus signaled that he was ready. "Rules are simple. Knock the opponent out of the ring or defeat them to win."

"Alright~!" Jean squeaked as she assumed a stance. "Ready or not, here I come~!"

Nala's eyes twitched in annoyance. _What is this, hide n' seek?_

He nodded as he extended the shadow to form a surface above him, creating more shadows.

Jean giggled again as she fisted the ground. As she stood up again, chunks of rock surrounded her hands, forming stony boxing gloves. "Tsk, tsk~!"

Erebus cast a glance at the fists as the shadow above began spreading, creating another shadow that fit perfectly within the ring. "Hey, we've started."

Jean nodded. "I know. Here I come~!" She lunged forward towards Erebus.

He snapped his fingers, causing a wall of solid darkness to appear in front of her. "Hint, hint: get rid of those shadows above you."

Immediately she stomped the ground, causing thick stone pillars to shoot out the ground and shatter the blackness above her. "Way ahead of you~!" She stomped the ground again, sending a considerable chunk of rock into the air, then spun and kicked the boulder towards Erebus.

"Even a rock creates shadows, so watch your moves." he reminded, spinning under the boulder. He flicked two fingers at her, firing tendrils of darkness from the large rock's shadow.

Jean cussed under her breath and dodged the tendrils, barely escaping them. "Fine~! Nature Zone: Falling Leaf Blades~!" A storm of razor-edged leaves began to rain down on Erebus, slicing at his skin.

"Hmph." he responded as he weaved through the nature magic, occasionally snatching leaves from the air. "How many shadows do I have?"

Jean's eyes widened as she traced each shadow in front of her. _Shoot! This isn't good! He has too many shadows!_

He snapped his fingers, causing the shadows of the leaves to wrap around each bit of nature, stopping them in mid-air. Lazily pointing at Jean, he condensed the shadows and fired them like arrows.

"Ugh!" she groaned as a dark arrow grazed her upper left arm. She managed to deflect most of the arrows with her rock covered fists. "Override: Green Thumb!" _What is he planning? In a fight like this, I can't tell! He's too resourceful with his shadows!_

She palmed the ground. "Earthsprout: Oak!" _This should do it... the tree will react against any shadow!_

A few yards in front of her, a tree rapidly grew from a sapling into a sturdy oak. The branches whipped the arrows out of the air.

Erebus exhaled, surrounding himself in shadows before charging at the tree. "Override: Shadow Boost!" He gained speed, whizzing around the swiping branches.

"Falling Leaf Blades!" _I've got him now~!_

He easily navigated through the new storm. "Are you-"

The magic oak smashed a branch into him, cracking his shadows and launching him into the air. With another well aimed attack, the shadows broke apart.

Jean's vivid green eyes widened as she stared at the broken darkness. _There's nobody in it!?_

"Got you." Erebus said as he covered her mouth with his left hand, tilting her head back. With his other hand he formed a shadowy knife. "Shadow travel within that shadow is easy."

Jean blushed in embarrassment and tried to wiggle out of his grip. _So that's how he did it! He's been standing behind me the whole time, and let me fight a shadow clone! That's genius~! But... I don't like that knife at my throat..._

"Blink three times to show defeat." he said.

She blinked thrice, exhaling as his left hand came off. _His hand is so warm~..._

Nala glared at Erebus, clenching her fist. _That's not right! He didn't even have to use his Lineage magic on her!? How strong is he!?_

_How am I ever going to put him down!?_

"Hey Erebus~?" Jean asked, turning around as the magic tree disappeared. "Can we have a rematch~?"

"Maybe." he said. "You could train with Nala."

Nala saw an opportunity. _I can't beat him on my own. But if Jean and I combined forces... maybe we can take him down!_

"Well, I want to train with you, Erebus."

"Hmm... how about we kill two birds with a stone."

"How~?" Jean asked, her pretty figure resting on the floor.

"You can both train against me. Two against one."

Nala smirked, a plan forming in her head. _Just what I wanted!_

"YES~!" Jean burst out, springing up from the ground and hugging him tightly from behind him. "I LOVE YOU~!"

Nala's immediately clenched her fist as an unfamiliar emotion coursing through her. A burning aura flamed around her, searing the ground around her. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?" _Why do I feel like this!?_

"You're just jealous cause Erebus is mine~!" Jean taunted. "He's mine~!" She prepared her lips as she moved her head closer to his cheek. _He will be mine~! This guy that cares about me so much~! I think I'm in love~!_

Nala rushed at Erebus, tackling him into the ground. Impulsively she kissed Erebus lightly on his left cheek.

At the same moment, Jean kissed Erebus on his right cheek, shifting so that she was hugging his right arm as all three of them landed on the ground of the gym.

"O-oh god..." he muttered, breathing heavily as his face heated up. _Damn... this so embarrassing... I'm gonna die from this intimacy! Especially from Nala, it's lethal!_

Around him, both Nala and Jean had deep blushes as they realized how close they were to his body. Their heartbeat sped up as they lied there with Erebus.

_I-I don't g-get this! _Nala thought as she felt her heart pounding in her chest. _W-why am I a mess a-around him!? I h-hate him! So why d-do I feel s-so e-embarrassed!?_

Erebus stood up, managing to untangle his right arm from Jean's grip. He walked away, touching his left cheek. _T-that's gonna leave a m-mark on my h-heart... _His blush deepened when he noticed Nala staring at him.

Jean helped Nala up. "So, what about the match~?"

"I think we should give a try..." Nala replied, gently touching her own lips.

Erebus turned around, a shadow covering his face like a mask. "Oh, definitely. We have time, and training does help. We should critique each other after this."

"I see..." Jean commented as she touched the ground again. "So how hard are you gonna fight?"

"Wanna try medium difficulty? Before, it was just on easy."

Nala shifted her weight between her legs, a bit unsure. "What would medium be like?" _This doesn't sound good..._

"I try a bit more. That's all." he said as he walked to the end of the training ring. "Shall we begin?"

"Okay..." Nala said, nudging Jean to get her attention. "Jean, you take the ground. I'll stick with aerial attacks." _I can augment her attacks with my fire, and she'll dominate the ground level. That way, he can't use his shadows to his fullest extent! The fire should negate most of his shadows! The fires above him will work like a second sun, additionally negating his shadows! All he can do is use physical attacks!_

Jean assumed a combat position. _I see. By letting me dominate the ground with a bit of help from her, my attacks don't cast a shadow, which leaves him nothing to counter-attack with! And with aerial fire, she can bombard him! He's trapped, even on "medium difficulty"!_

_This time I've got to be more serious. On "easy" he defeated me in five moves! If I can draw this out I could get the upper hand... I've got to take advantage of his difficulty curve!_

"Here we go..." Erebus said. "Up your game." His shadow again elongated, beginning to cover up the ceiling.

_This is the same move as before... trying to steal the air, huh? Not happening!_ Nala thought. She fired bursts of red-orange flames at him. _This should distract him._

"This isn't right..." Jean muttered as she looked up at the swarming darkness. "He could've restrained us with our shadows already."

Nala noted the new serious tone in her voice. _Dang... she's right. He's distracting us from something else..._

The shadows descended into the ground, violently cracking the arena. It remained in front of the two, solid as a fortress's stone wall.

Scenarios flashed through Nala's head. _A spiked wall, more shadow clones, maybe an attack from the ground? It's near impossible to tell-_

"Got you." he said as he neck locked both Jean and Nala. "If you were trying to kill me, you'd be dead now."

Nala swore loudly. "How?!" she demanded, seething from the defeat.

Erebus smiled as his shadowy mask faded away. "You were so focused on my moves from before that you were blinded to my actions now." he stated calmly.

Jean nodded slowly in understanding. "So in a way, we let our guard down?"

"You definitely had your guard up, but for the wrong thing." he replied. "You'd thought I'd swarm you with shadow clones, right?

She nodded again. "Yeah, like you did last time." _I wonder what "hard mode" would be like?_

Nala folded her arms across her chest, sighing inwardly. _I should have been more aware... I was trained to stay more aware for stuff like that!_

"You should realize I had a few cards in my hand..." Erebus said, letting silence take over.

Nala raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't the expression go 'a few tricks up me sleeve'?"

"Are you trying to turn me into a cliched villain?" he replied, smirking.

Jean started laughing.

Nala rolled her eyes. "So what if I am?" she countered, keeping her arms folded.

"You would rather have me as an ally, would you?" he said, stretching his arms. "Since you didn't bother asking for 'extreme mode' despite how much you dislike me."

Nala took a deep breath. "It's only because I'm not ready to take you on in a fight to the death." she muttered quickly.

"So, what's the point of training?" he asked.

"To get stronger. What else?" Nala replied, taking the defensive.

"So, what's my goal sparring with you?" Erebus said as he scratched his head.

"It's not like you need it." Nala replied before walking towards the door of the gym. She didn't feel like a battle of the wits right now. Especially with _him._

He hugged her from behind. "That's true. And I hope you're up to it when I turn evil... forever."

Nala inhaled sharply as she felt Erebus's arms around her. She felt herself tense at his comment. This was a new side of him, and she never thought he'd say or do something like this. _You can't do that!_ she screamed in her mind, wanting to burst at him. She stayed silent, not trusting herself to speak.

He unwrapped his arms from around her, sighing deeply. "To be evil or not... I don't want to be like my ancestors."

Nala could feel herself shaking slightly, tears welling in her eyes. She took a deep, shaky breath before speaking. "I understand..." she said, letting her voice trail off.

Jean shifted uncomfortably at the tension in the air. "So, uh... Are we done here?" she asked in an attempt to change the subject.

Nala nodded. "Yes. I believe we are." she stated blankly. However she still had one question left. "Why didn't you use your Lineage magic?"

Erebus sighed deeply again, placing his palm on his forehead. "The truth is..."

Both Jean's and Nala's eyes widened as he gave his answer.

"... it's destroying my sanity."


	5. Rune 4: Fall and Faith

Rune 4: Fall and Faith

"Ah~! A nice, warm bath in the springs here is so amazing~!" Jean cheerfully said, relaxing in the women's spring.

Nala sighed, easing her sore body as she bathed. _Erebus is... odd. He's not evil, he's doing all he can to be the good guy. _She sighed, standing with the water up to her knees. _Why do I feel like someone's peeping on us? _

She blushed as she thought about Erebus. _I-If Erebus comes i-in here I'll c-char him and barbeque h-his remains!_

Jean stood up, covering her large cleavage with her left arm. "Someone's peeping on us. I can feel that chill in my spine..."

"So what should we do?" Nala asked, covering her average-sized chest.

"If it's Erebus, I'll give him my F-cup chest~!" Jean laughed, uncovering her breasts. "But if it isn't... he'll be punished for trying to violate us maidens. He'll be a lewd beast."

Nala nodded, wrapping her body in a dry towel. "Truthfully, I don't think Erebus is the kind to peek on girls. After all, he did bring up that point..."

"_It's a school-wide scandal when the boys peep on the girls at a spa in the school. But there's practically no eyebrows raised when women are peeping on men. It's an odd problem, considering the public should be embarrassed at both sets of private parts." _she remembered him saying. Her violet eyes wandered to a group of freshmen naively peeking on the men's spa. _That's one incident that won't be reported..._

"Ah!" Jean burst out as she stumbled back towards Nala. "Someone grabbed my boobs! So not Erebus! You lewd beast! Pig!"

"So who're we roasting?" Nala asked, smiling maliciously as her fists caught fire. "Who's peeking? Show up, and I might give you something for your troubles..."

"Ugh..." a male voice droned as someone stood up. He was dressed formally in dress pants and shirt, wearing a grey sweater that complemented his snow-white eyes and hair. "Where am I...?"

"I was right..." Nala muttered as she quickly covered her body with a towel, draping it into a makeshift dress. "The heck did you go here? I swore you weren't here before when I got in..."

"Ya right there, princess..." he groaned, rubbing the back of his head. "Where's the exit?"

Nala pointed to a door that clearly stated 'exit' on it. "Try over there, and hurry up before I decide to burn you to a crisp." Her voice was sharp and serious.

The light haired boy looked up at Nala sleepily. "Now why would you do that? What about my side? I was just hanging out with some friends, and everything went black. Next thing I know, I'm waking up to see you two beauties standing in front of me."

Jean wrapped a towel around her body to conceal it from any peeking men. She was sure a man waking up in the women's spa was a new ploy.

"Well, you've got to explain yourself, Eric." growled a low voice from behind Nala. She couldn't tell by sight who it was, since the steam blurred her sight. But she could tell who it was. "Erebus!? YOU PERVERT!"

Erebus, dressed in jeans and a tanktop, roughly grabbed Eric by the back of his sweater, dragging him towards the exit. He looked at the floor to avoid looking at any naked people. "Guilty." he said, tightening his grip on the sweater.

Jean gushed as she watched Erebus drag Eric away, her hands clasped beside her face. "Erebus, my love~! Comes to the rescue once again~!"

"Wait, you haven't heard my side-" Eric protested.

"You've been here since lunch, when I found trying to peek at women." Erebus said, cutting him off. "And because of that perviness, I'll personally torture you."

Nala grabbed Jean's arm and pulled her in the direction of the changing room. Her body temperature raised due to her readiness to use her flames. "Let's go get dressed, Jean. I'm not letting either of them off the hook."

Jean winced at Nala's tight, fiery grip on her arm but followed behind. She was still brooding over Erebus. "Like a knight~ he came in to save the maidens in need~!" she cooed.

"Would you cut that out?" Nala growled. "You're making me sick." _She does have a point though..._ she thought for a split second, then shook her head violently to clear the ridiculous thought.

Meanwhile, Eric was shivering in the spa. "W-what tortures?" he asked. Erebus was giving him the death glare.

"First, a little stretching on the rack, then a laid-back trip on Judas's chair." Erebus replied, giving no ounce of hesitation or jesting.

Eric's eyes widened in response. "Y-you wouldn't dare." he stuttered.

"How much are you willing to bet? I'm sure your mom would approve. High Dean, I hear." Erebus said. "Now how to amplify those screams..."

"N-no she wouldn't! She'd... She'd have you expelled on the spot! I'll personally report you!" Eric yelled in fear.

"You of all people know that your mom takes no favorites. Especially with family." Erebus said. "Now shut up." He snapped his fingers, wrapping Eric's shadow around the guilty student.

"W-Why you! Y-You ruffian! Kidnapper!" Eric burst out, struggling within the cocoon of darkness.

"Dammit, should've covered his mouth..." Erebus sighed, dragging Eric away from the women's spring despite their height difference. "Such an annoying guy..."

The instant Erebus stepped out of the spring, he was surrounded by women. They were armed with their magics, creating a faint glow that drew bystanders' eyes.

"Please let me pass..." he groaned, facepalming himself with his free hand. _They've covered themselves with towels. This won't end well... endless death threats about me being a "lewd beast" or a "evil rapist"..._

"LET ERIC GO!" they burst out. "HE'S OURS!"

"Hey, do help out..." Eric whimpered.

"You evil little..." Erebus growled as he dodged attacks from the scantily clothed girls. _I can't counterattack without the shame! God dammit, Eric's smarter than he looks when he's in pervert mode! And now he has a fangirl army!? Dammit!_

He twisted his body, landing at the feet of the girls and fading into the shadows. The girls screamed as both Erebus and Eric disappeared, calling Erebus a "drooling dog" and the traditional "lewd beast".

"I don't think he's even close to that..." groaned Nala as she stepped out the changing room fully clothed. "Jean, it's all clear."

"G-Good... I don't w-want Erebus-kun to see me like this..." Jean replied shyly as she stepped out. She was clothed in a dress the same green as her vivid eyes. It covered her body nicely, giving her a petite and modest appearance that complemented her slim body and kind nature.

Nala rolled her violet eyes. "You don't have to please anyone! Erebus would accept you the way you are!"

"But the Fall Equinox Festival is coming up! I wanna go out with him. Or at least give him a gift!" Jean complained.

Nala nodded slowly, swallowing a lump of jealousy in her throat. "Right... Well, I'm sure he'd still prefer that you act yourself. He doesn't seem to be the type of guy to buy into fake people." she said casually, ignoring another lump in her throat.

Jean nodded, then smiled. "You know, you're right! Thanks Nala!" She replied happily.

Nala shrugged. "Anytime, Jean." she stated, doing her best to stay calm. "Now, let's go hunt down those two." she said, changing the subject.

"I think I already tracked you two down." Erebus said, looking over both of their shoulder. "How's everyone?"

Nala jumped, gasping slightly in surprise. "E-Erebus! W-We're alright..." she said, cursing herself for not sensing that Erebus had been nearby. _No... it's not that I didn't pay attention... I really couldn't detect him. What did his family teach him!?_

Jean giggled softly at Nala's reaction, but quickly stopped as Nala glared at her menacingly. Jean turned to face Erebus fully. "So... how much of that did you hear?"

"From the fall festival to the present." he replied. "That dress suits you nicely."

"T-That's... j-just like a g-goddess..." Eric stuttered as he looked up at Jean.

Nala cussed inwardly, praying that Erebus wasn't good at sensing emotions. Her eye twitched as she heard Eric's comment and swiftly delivered a sharp roundhouse kick to his head. "Stop being such a pervert!" she yelled.

A spooky aura descended around Erebus, including the whole gang. "I think our little inmate needs a little correction." he said, adding emphasis to the last word with malice.

"L-Like w-what!?" Eric stuttered, paralyzed in fear.

"Thumbscrew for your little toes." Erebus replied, devoid of all sympathy. "It'll hurt, but you'll still be alive for all your tests. Just think about it! With that torture device you'll be lame when you chase girls like a pervert!"

Nala smirked, nodding her agreement. "That's a great idea, Erebus." malice filled her voice as she spoke. "Got anymore good ideas?"

"Let's add a heretic's fork under his chin to teach him to shut his mouth." he replied, smiling wickedly.

The whole gang felt shivers down their spines.

Nala nodded in agreement. "Sounds good. Let's do it." she said, hiding a hint of uncertainty from her voice. _Is this what he meant by going evil? _she thought as she shuddered slightly. _I sure hope not..._

Erebus cupped his hands and whispered into her ear. "I'm kidding, of course. Fear tactics, keep him in line. Threat of tortures should work."

Nala nodded slowly, then turned to whisper back to him. "Oh ok. Good plan."

Jean looked from Erebus then Nala in bewilderment. She whispered under her breath, "Dear Lord... I'm surrounded by sadistic freaks..."

Erebus whispered in Jean's ear. "It's just a fear tactic. Should keep him in line." he said to her.

Jean stared at him, after a couple of seconds of silence, she leaned in to whisper in his ear. "Are you sure you guys were just bluffing? You were really convincing..." she replied in uncertainty.

"I'm not torturing that guy, despite how much I want to." he replied.

Jean nodded slowly.

"H-Hey! W-What are you g-guys whispering a-about?!" Eric shouted fearfully.

"Just more ways of torture, in case you step out of line." Nala replied, smirking.

"By the way, we should prepare for the fall festival..." Erebus noted. "Wonder what I should do?"

"Go shopping and maybe get a date... the fall equinox is coming up. It's a critical day for magic, when times can be tipped and powers changed." Jean said. _S-Should I ask h-him out!?_

"Ah, alright. We should get back to the dorm before the fangirls-" Erebus started.

"Kya~! Eric's here~! Quick, catch them~!" the fangirls burst as they spilled out of the alleys and streets.

"Gah!" Jean burst as she stomped the ground, creating a temporary wall of asphalt and stones. "Hurry, Erebus~!"

"Grab on. Time for shadow travel." he said. "I'll make hot chocolate."

Nala and Jean nodded as they held onto his arms. "Should we leave Eric here?"

"Naw. We still have to torture him." Erebus replied, winking at Nala as his shadow formed a canopy over them. "Here we go, the permanent winter!"

Nala smirked as she started to flow her magic through her body to keep herself from freezing. Then she lightly grabbed his arm so that she wouldn't be left behind. "I'll have white chocolate again." she said.

"Will do." he replied as he touched Eric with a foot on his face. "Stay still Eric. Or would you like to be shaved ice?"

The shadow descended onto the group of four, encasing them in darkness before Erebus traveled them through the chilly blackness.

They emerged in the dorm, landing in the empty bedroom where a curtain cast a large shadow.

"Erebus, our hero~!" Jean sighed, lost in her romanticized version of reality as she hugged Erebus's right arm tightly. She brought it over to her chest.

"JEAN! DON'T YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!" Nala burst as she glared at her.

"Yeah, could you please let go of me?" he asked.

"Could you get your foot off of my face and get me out of this!?" Eric groaned, his voice muffled by the rubber on Erebus's shoe.

Jean slowly let go of Erebus's arm, taking a step back. She muttered something inaudible to herself.

"Thanks." Erebus said as he opened the front door. Standing in front of him was Drustan and two suitcases. "Heya. What's new?"

"The dean's implementing a new system, with a new dorm leader. Plus, Fall Equinox Festival is kinda like the day before school starts. Hopefully can find some buddies for the year." Drustan replied as he wheeled the two suitcases in. "I found another one outside. That ain't mine."

"Don't tell me..." Erebus started. He checked both the girl's and boy's bedroom. "Eric is living with us... god dammit!" He made a violent choking gesture, causing Eric to flinch.

"Uh... how'd you know?" Drustan blankly asked. "I have a letter and all..."

"That's Eric's bag, since he's staring at it. And now because of that, I've got to deal with his perviness! It's a god damn nightmare!" Erebus burst, glaring at Eric. "Behave, or I'll have sugar-flavored shaved ice for summer."

"I-I will, if y-you get me o-out of this s-shadow!" Eric stuttered. "S-Somebody help! He's a p-psychopath!"

_He's not, but he's very good at acting like one... _Nala mentally noted. _I'd rather not be on the receiving end if I got Erebus pissed... he'd flash-freeze me by shadow travel!_

Jean stared at Erebus, a concerned look on her face. "You okay there, Erebus?" she asked tentatively.

"Mostly." he replied as he pushed back the fangirls with a death glare. "Just annoyed that I have to spend a year with him..."

"Huh... what did Eric ever do?" Drustan asked as he closed the heavy oak doors.

Nala spoke up. "Brazenly lying in the women's spring and literally peeking on us while lying about how he got there and what he was doing! Oh, and Erebus?"

"Huh-?" he replied, turning around to face her.

Nala punched him hard in the face, sending him flying for a few feet. "USE GOD DAMN COMMON SENSE! DON'T JUMP INTO THE GIRL'S SPRING JUST TO CLEAR OUT THAT GUY, YOU IDIOT! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?"

"Getting Eric out..." he groaned as he stood back up. "Have any plans?"

"I'm telling nothing to a guy who saw me naked." Nala hissed.

"If I saw you like that I'd be dead!" he burst. He started edging towards the oak door connecting to the hallway.

"Then let's get started." she replied, teasingly lifting up her tanktop a bit. _Let's see how perverted he is, in front of everyone!_

Erebus froze, a blank glint in his eyes. His arms dropped to his side as he fell onto the floor hard.

"...Nala, what did you do?" Drustan started, staring at the limp body on the floor. "Think you killed him?"

"I hope not..." Jean said, managing to drag him onto the couch. "I'll get him medicine."

"Go ahead..." Nala replied as she retreated into her room. _That was... unexpected. I expected a nosebleed..._

"Eric, plug your damn nose up. Blood all over the floor. I'm not cleaning." Drustan said.

_Okay, Eric is a pervert, that's for sure. But what's up with Erebus? His eyes seem focused on another place... _Nala thought. She took out a light piece of metal with runes etched on the outside. _It's been a while since I last used my ManaLink. A freaking touch-screen magical piece of metal that entertains and offends people. Go figure._

She checked her messages and found one from her father. "Meet Guy at 11AM." she read out loud. _Huh, another one..._ Tapping the message, she skimmed through the contents.

_It's been like this for most of my life... as soon as I was 13, my dad's been trying to find families to connect to, via marriage and engagement. Today's no different. He's trying to make a connection to support the Inquisition. Today's new guy is at the shopping plaza, and he's telling me to meet him at 11 AM._

She checked her ManaLink's clock. _10:30 AM. I have some time. Plus, the plaza isn't that far._

"Well... I have to at least try to care." she muttered miserably to herself. "I hate it when he does this."

"You okay?" Erebus asked, peeking from around the corner of the doorway.

Nala sighed, keeping her back to the door. "I have a blind date before lunch. Arranged by Father like he did in the past..." she said, letting her voice trail off at the end.

"Ah, I see. Start up a friendly atmosphere. Wear a soft orange to match the season." he suggested. "I'll be leaving soon. Shopping for gifts."

Nala nodded thoughtfully. "Thanks, Erebus." she said softly, almost too quiet to be heard. "Is there any chance that you could take me to the plaza on your way? I have to be there at 11."

"Ah, that's smart. Sure." he replied. "Wings or shadow travel?"

Nala smirked slightly. "Whatever you think will give the best impression." she said. She didn't really care about making the impression, but maybe she could make the guy fear her and make an excuse to do something else.

"Alright. Demon wings it is. You should get ready." he said. "We are humans. We judge too often by the surface."

Nala nodded. "Alright. I'll see you in a bit." she said before turning around and closing the door, barely giving Erebus time to move out of the way.

_Why do I feel like something special is gonna happen?_

* * *

><p>"And so, here we are." Erebus said as he descended into the plaza nearby Faith. "5 minutes early. You look good." He was carrying Nala on his back as his shadow demon wings flapped to slow his descent.<p>

"Thanks." Nala replied, searching the ground for the guy her father had sent a picture of. She spotted him staring up at them in awe and cussed softly under her breath.

"Looks like to him you've tamed the devil." Erebus whispered to her as he landed on the ground.

Nala sighed. "Damn... Well at least I'll have made a lasting impression." she said with mock enthusiasm. She climbed off of Erebus's back.

"Damn right you have. See ya." he replied as he disappeared into his own shadow.

Nala smoothed down her sundress to clear it of any wrinkles. The top started at a soft orange before fading into a light, warm yellow near her knees.

She walked up to the dazed young man calmly. "So, what are we doing this afternoon?" she asked politely, not caring to ask his name which her father had already given her.

He stared at her. "A-are you-" he stuttered. His blonde hair and blue eyes perched on his slim body showed some hesitation.

"Nala Tsounhei. Daughter of the High Inquistor, Holiest Crusader. And you are?" She did her best not to give her voice too much edge, but failed to hide the annoyance.

He regained his composure. "Cain Sevenbright." he replied. "6th in line for the throne of Manaheart."

_Father really hit his jackpot, huh... well, this guy definitely looks like royalty. A prince, huh? Well, he seems nice and with a lot more common sense that one person I know... _Nala thought. _I guess he won't be bad… Still, he'll have to do more than say his authority to sway me._

Cain held out his right hand like the perfect gentleman. "Shall we? I know a good place."

Nala grasped his hand. "Lead the way." she replied. "Keep the fanboys away, too."

"No problem." he said. He gestured towards the obsessed army. "They know who's the boss."

"Ah, I see." she said.

"By the way, who's that guy that dropped you off?" Cain asked as he led her through the crowd.

Nala smirked and giggled a bit. "An idiot." she replied. "He happens to be in my dorm, but he knows who's boss. Me." _He really must dislike Erebus, huh?_

"Okay. Just making sure he wasn't doing anything like harassing you." he said, tightening his grip a bit. "Almost there."

"He doesn't." Nala replied, resisting to rip her hand away as his grip tightened. _If anything, I end up harassing Erebus... _she thought bitterly. She almost didn't catch Cain's last statement. She looked at him curiously. "Almost where?" she asked, pushing down her inner turmoil.

"The movies." he responded, leading her into a theater. "Which movie do you wanna watch?"

"Huh... it's been a while since I've last seen one. Maybe a horror movie." she said. _Let's test his nerve..._

He smiled a bit. "Ah! Then let's go with 'The Living Curse' since it's new! I've heard it leaves nightmares for a week!"

"Sure. Sounds good to me." Nala replied. "Lead the way."

Cain brought the tickets and a medium-sized bag of popcorn. "Anything else?" he asked kindly.

"Naw. Just the movie and someone's ear to scream in." Nala replied. _I'll be fine, but let's see about him._

He laughed naturally. "Come on. We've got a horror to conquer!" He held her hand gently and start to lead her to the theaters.

Nala reassessed her evaluation of Cain. _He seems like the perfect gentleman. Good manners, kind nature, a loyal personality. Maybe for once Father picked a good person... _Her thoughts wandered to Erebus. _He's a darkness wizard, he's no good! Everything he does is to trick me! He just wants to lower my defenses so that he can beat me! Screw my promise! _she thought, then paused a moment. _My promise to myself... Never to let Father force me into marriage... Never to let myself fall for a man he'd set me up with... _She glanced over at Cain. _Will I really break that promise, sworn on my dignity? _She shook her head slightly. It was too early to determine something like that.

_Just get through this now, Nala. One step at a time... _she told herself mentally.

"Nala!" yelled Cain.

She felt him tug her arm forcefully, and she was trapped against Cain's body. She scowled up at him. "What?" she snapped in response. Once again her inner turmoil was forgotten for a moment.

"You almost ran into the door." he said softly.

Nala rolled her eyes and stepped back away from him. She noticed that all eyes were on them. "So what?" she hissed. "That's no reason to make a scene."

"Ow..." a black haired guy on the floor groaned. "Headache, headache..."

Nala immediately rescinded her initial thought. "Oh, so that's what you were warning me about. Thanks." _This guy seems familiar..._

"Erebus!" Jean burst as she kneeled by him. "You okay?" She was dressed nicely in a green blouse and blue jeans.

"I'm fine. Eric isn't, though..." he replied, pointing to the white-haired fangirl magnet. "Looks like he's got the worst headache..."

"Oh, Nala's here." Drustan noted as he turned towards Cain. "Who are you?"

Cain nodded and shook his hand. "Cain Sevenbright. And you are?"

"Drustan Gwytheryn. Nala's father asked me to kinda act like her guardian." he replied, scratching his brown hair. "The white haired guy getting mobbed is Eric, the brown haired girl is Jean, and the guy on the floor is Erebus."

"Can you repeat the last name again?" Cain asked, his voice clear and loud.

"Erebus Acheron. Don't worry, he can be a nice guy." Drustan said.

Nala sensed the prince's uncomfort as he shifted uneasily on his feet. His widened eyes confirmed what she was thinking. _He doesn't like him at all, doesn't he. Based on his hands, I'm betting that Cain will one day try and hunt Erebus down. What would Erebus say...?_

"What a pain..." Erebus groaned as he stood up. "Let's just watch a movie and relax before an onslaught of homework."

The whole gang managed to slip into the theater. Its silence of hushed voices and disembodied sounds was a contrast to the hustle of the lobby. Quietly, the group took their seats.

"Erebus, save me if I scream..." Jean cautioned as she grabbed his right hand.

Nala felt a familiar emotion rise through her. _Dang it, why do I feel like this!? _She felt tempted to snatch Erebus's left hand since she was sitting on his left. She fought back the urge and closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath.

Cain turned to look at her. "Are you alright, Nala?" he asked, worry in his voice.

Nala nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine." she responded quickly, darting her eyes away from Erebus and Jean.

Cain looked past her, noticing Erebus and Jean, but mostly Erebus. "Is he giving you trouble?" he asked defensively, tensing slightly.

Nala shook her head quickly. "No!" she stated a little too quickly and loudly, drawing the attention of the others. "I mean, no. He's not bugging me at all. I'm just... just a little nervous." she continued, quieter than before.

"Nervous?" Cain asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes." Nala responded. "You see, it's been a while since I last saw a horror movie, and I'm just a little nervous as to what the movie will be about... You never know what goes on in the producers' minds these days." she rambled, trying to redeem herself.

Cain nodded slowly. "Right... Well, I'm here if you get scared." he said, smirking a bit. He knew it was too dark for Nala to see.

"Hush, it's starting. Don't scream in my ear." Erebus whispered.

"Right. Sorry." Nala whispered in response. "And I won't, I promise."

He nodded as the screen flickered to life. "Try not to punch Cain." he commented offhandedly.

She merely watched the movie, taking note of actions. _A defender of a kingdom who wants power to protect all of those he cares and loves... he makes a deal with the devil, who gives him the power to defeat those that stand in his way. Already, that's some deep plotline..._

"Jump scare." Erebus muttered as a scene of a happy family flashed on.

Nala wanted to say no, since the children were happily waiting for their father. _This isn't a horror movie!_

"3, 2, 1..." he muttered on her right.

Screams pierced the silenced of the audience as the father slaughtered his children on the screen. As the man walked through his house, some were begging for the mother not to run towards him. Nala and Jean were among them.

Cain tightened his grip on Nala's hand, managing to contain his gasp of horror. _This is so scary! Nightmares, no!_

Nala tensed up as the mother stood up in the view of the monster her husband became. _Please let her be okay, please be okay..._

Drustan was gripping his armrests tightly, closing his eyes as the mother's screams resounded in his ears. _No, no!_

Eric was hugging Jean tightly, begging her to save him in a weak voice. Jean in turn was squeezing Erebus to death.

As the father walked away with the mother impaled by her two children's arms, the audience gasped apprehensively. A blood-red mark was spreading on his back, distorting it as they watched. The screen faded to black.

Nala risked a glance at Erebus, wondering how felt about the movie so far. _This is the scariest s*** I've ever seen! Bad choice to first watch! This is the stuff of nightmares!_

Her jaw dropped at the sight of his straight face and bored eyes. She was tempted to burst "HOW!?" and throttle Erebus like the children and mother in the movie.

Cain noted her glance and turned to the right. His jaw also dropped. "H-He's... n-not human..." he whispered shakily. "H-How is h-he unaffected!?"

Her response was cut off as the father reappeared again, this time at the town gate. The guards ordered the evacuation of the whole town as he approached. She noted the gorey bones sticking out of his body like spikes and his new demon horns. _A monster... just like... him. _She stole another glance at Erebus, remembering a distorted voice and silenced screams.

Jean whimpered like a lost dog as the father brutally murdered the townsfolk. "S-Save me... E-Erebus-kun..." she whispered as she began crying into his shoulder.

Nala was too busy being frightened to feel the familiar unknown feeling. Her eyes widened as the royal family ran out of the castle on the screen like idiots. _No! That's suicide! Run!_

The former defender looked like a full-fledged demon, with reptilian skin, a chimera tail, and snake eyes. _That's the devil... _both Nala and Cain thought.

Drustan had his eyes closed, resigned to the royal family's fate. _It's all over._ he thought, crying over a family that didn't really exist.

One seat away, Eric was praying for a happy ending as he held onto Jean. _Please... please..._

Erebus continued with his perfect poker face, his eyes showing no interest or shock. "Unexpected ending in three, two, one..." he muttered.

The viewers gasped as the defender roared, transforming into a living tattoo that embedded itself in the prince's back on the screen. Just before the screen turned black, they saw the child's face. It looked exactly like that of the devil.

As moviegoers sighed in relief, Erebus gently untangled Jean's arms from around him. "The scariest part was how fake the effects were." he said with absolutely no wavering.

"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT!?" burst Nala and Cain. Drustan remained silent as he stood up and stared at Jean.

"Earth to Jean. Guy hugging you." he said, pointing to her arm.

"I-I need it..." she stuttered, for once accepting the Eric's embrace. Eric in turn made no jokes or perverted movements, which was a first.

As Nala left with Cain holding her hand, she thought about the day before. _It's destroying my sanity, _she remembered Erebus saying. _That explains... he's seen far worse._

"Nala, you want a ride home?" Cain asked as they returned to the daylit world of reality."It's about time."

"Sure." she replied. _It's finally over between me and that guy!_

He whistled for a cab, waiting for a blue floating car to fully stop. Nala thought there was something odd, but she waved it aside in her mind. She stepped in the cab before him, sitting down as Cain closed the door.

He handed some money to him, but frowned as the man took it. "Something's wrong... Hey, robber!" He lunged towards the driver as he took out a knife. "Nala, get out!"

Nala nodded, opening the door on the right side and ignoring traffic. As she took a few steps another cab, this one red, drove haphazardly towards her at terminal speed. _C*** _she thought as time slowed down. Her limbs refused to move. _It's my end._

In the corner of her eye, a shadowy blur appeared before disappearing as fast as it had appeared. _Is it..._

Time returned to normal as Erebus tackled the cab, violently bending it from its red front to its chrome back as he flew back from the hit. He was still as he hit the asphalt hard.

_He's dead. _Nala thought as she looked down at him. _He's dead, he's finally dead._ A tear dripped out of her right eye.

_Why am I crying?_

"EREBUS!" she cried as she let her sadness out, her tears streaming from her eyes. She got onto her knees, hugging his limp body and praying that he was alive. _Don't leave, don't leave!_

"Nala... he's dead." Cain said as he kneeled by Nala. "Let's take his body to the graveyard."

She felt like punching him hard in the gut for staying so calm. He was a representation of the person she tried to be, and now she was crying over, out of everyone, a dark wizard.

Cain sat next to Nala, keeping a respectful distance. "The best place for a dead body to be is in a graveyard, where nobody can disturb it and shower disrespect on it." he gently said. "Let him rest."

Nala managed to rein in most of her emotions. "O-Okay..." she choked, hugging him tightly for support.

As she buried her head into his chest, he smirked. _My plan was foiled for a moment, but now she's mine._ _My lady, forever. And the only obstacle is dead in front of me. Erebus, wasn't it?_

Cain replaced his smirk with a false mask of concern. "Come on, let's get him buried-"

"Over your lying body and mouth." growled a familiar voice.

In a fluid motion Erebus snatched Cain's ankle and tossed him skyward like a sharp stone. He rolled onto his feet, spiking Cain into the asphalt in a split second with his elbow.

Nala watched, wide-eyed. _I-I thought he was... And Cain was... Did Cain stage that?_ Her thoughts were scattered, confusing her more.

"You little noble prick made of s***." Erebus growled as he effortlessly lifted Cain by the throat. "I knew I wasn't going to like you. Has nothing to do with light and dark, playboy." His colorless eyes bored into Cain's wavering blue eyes. "Even a prince gets punished."

"I-I was going to-" Cain choked, his eyes full of fear.

"You staged it all. You think I was a fool? I saw through it the instant I saw your face." Erebus cut off.

"Y-You've got i-it all-"

"Correctly. Don't lie. You only cared about connections and glory, not about her feelings. You're not a man. You're the prince of c*** and cheaters." he hissed as he threw Cain into the wall behind him..

Cain managed to stagger onto his feet. "I am the prince of Manaheart, 6th in line to the throne. I will defeat you, deceiver." he intoned as light solidified in his left hand. "Go to your hell."

The audience began cheering for him, leaving exactly nobody to support Erebus, except for a certain silver haired girl with mixed feelings. She kept it hidden though, cheering for him only in her head.

"So you want to fight, huh?" he said, sighing deeply. "Well, guess I can't help it. Extreme mode it is. The prince of s*** needs a lesson."

Nala immediately felt her gut drop, like she just plunged into hell.

"Your 'extreme' will fall to justice!" roared Cain as he burst forwards with a blinding weapon in his left hand.

Erebus merely placed his right hand over his face. "Extreme mode entails psychological warfare along with a deadly enemy. Side effects may include: madness, fear, schizophrenia, and brutal death."

"Stop spouting lies!" Cain shouted as he swung his solid light weapon in a overhand stroke.

Erebus merely caught the attack with his left hand. "Do you remember me?" he asked in a vastly different voice.

Cheers transformed into horrified gasps. Most of the audience had come from the movies. Some even pissed their pants upon hearing that voice.

Nala recognized it. _D-Don't tell me... that defender is real!?_

Cain's eyes widened as Erebus tore off his face, revealing a scaly face and snake eyes. "N-No... NOT YOU!" he screamed as he backed away.

"Kill..." the monster who was formerly Erebus intoned as his left hand reached for his back. A loud snapping and sucking noise, along with the oozing of blood emerged from him as he took out his spiked spine.

Cain promptly pissed his pants at the sight of the gruesome former human. "OH GOD, NO!" he shrieked as he bent the light around him into a shield.

"Prey! Little deer!" the monster roared as he thrust his spine at the terrified prince.

A sickening crack accented the prince's cry as the bone weapon pierced through the shield.

Cain began crying once the spine stabbed inches to the left of his heart. He was frightened, and both psychologically and physically defeated.

The monster turned away, its skin peeling away as the spine disappeared. Nala could see it was Erebus as the shadows he wore faded away. _That was... perfect. Absolutely frightening. Just... so damn scary. Even scarier than "The Living Curse"..._

"E-Erebus... I swear I-I'll get my revenge..." Cain swore as he shakily stood up.

"Of course you will, in your dreams after you change your pants." Erebus replied. "Have a good afternoon. Let the nightmares bite you. And one more thing..."

He backhanded Cain harshly, causing him to fall hard on the ground.

"You'll have the rest before you die." Erebus commented. "Come on, Nala. Let's go our dorms." He began walking back to Faith as if he had never hit by a cab.

"Y-Yes..." Nala stuttered as she followed. She touched her hair, breathing heavily as she recounted the scene. _E-Erebus doesn't seem to like lies a lot..._

_M-Maybe I should tell him a truth when we get back..._

As they began the trek to the dorms, the fangirls and fanboys maintained a respectful distance from them. Every one of them had seen Erebus's transformation. All of them had a breakdown when they saw the monster Erebus became.

Soon, both Erebus and Nala arrived at the dorm door. Drustan opened the door and noticed the distance between the two and the fans. "What happened?" he asked.

"I got hit by a cab and transformed into a movie monster which made people piss themselves." Erebus replied as he walked into the dorm.

"Basically, I saw what Erebus did." Nala replied as she entered the dorm room.

Drustan closed the door and stared at her as he locked the door. "Tell me the full story." he asked.

"I-It's... t-too scary..." Nala managed to mutter.

"Suit yourself. Just talk with one of us if you need help." he replied.

She nodded as she entered her room to change clothes. As she put on a shirt she thought about her tears. _Why did I cry over him, out of all the people?_

Night soon approached as her roommates tucked in for the night. Jean hugged Nala. "Big day tomorrow. Get your game up." she said before edging into bed and going to sleep.

Nala nodded as she turned off her lights. As soon as she thought Jean was soundly asleep, she swung out of bed in her pajamas and quietly exited her room.

Erebus was sitting on a couch with only a table light on, watching the clock as he played with something in his hand. She realized it was a ManaLink, with red markings.

She lightly tapped him on his shoulder. "Erebus." she whispered. "Can I see your back?"

"What for?" he asked as he looked up at her. His colorless eyes stared into her violet ones.

"Just... do it." she replied.

He nodded, taking off his shirt with his right hand. Nala's heart sped up as her face heated up. She gently touched his back, sweeping it down to just above his waist. "Those are nasty bruises..." she whispered. _He got them... because of me._

"I'm fine." he said.

"You're not." Nala replied as she pressed her fingers into his bruised lower back. She heard a subdued groan. "You're hurt. Admit it."

"F-Fine... it hurts." he replied, his face heating up.

Instinctively she hugged him from behind, feeling his breathing and his body. _I'm sorry, I'm sorry... _she thought as a few tears escaped her eyes.

Erebus turned around, hugging her. "It's fine, it's fine..." His heart began beating faster. _Don't cry, don't cry... it's not your fault. It's my own. Don't cry._

"I-Is it okay if I t-tell you a secret?" she asked softly, crying with her forehead leaning on his chest.

"S-Sure." he replied as he wiped away some of her tears.

Nala nodded as she began rubbing her hair. Soon, in the dim light, her hair was a pale blonde.

"I-I never let anyone know that I-I'm a blonde... since that day when a-an idiot s-stereotyped me as a d-dumb blonde..." she admitted. _H-He'll use these secrets a-against me... w-why a-am I t-telling him?_

"You look good." Erebus truthfully reassured her, petting her head. _S-She looks beautiful..._ he thought as his blush intensified.

She nodded. Those three words made her feel confident again. _If he's fine with it, I-I'm fine too..._

"One more thing, before you go to sleep..." he said. He took out from under the couch a box. Opening it, he pulled out a scarf, knitted with red and orange yarn. "Handmade. I knitted them." He gently wrapped it around her neck. "It looks good. You go really well with orange and red in this season."

Nala's face heated up from his gentle touch. "T-Thanks..."

Erebus hugged her again. "Good night. May nightmares die."

She giggled a bit. "Come on, you know I'd never have any!"

"Just in case. I l- I mean, sleep well." he replied.

Nala nodded as she walked into her bedroom. As she slid into her bed with her new scarf still wrapped around her neck, her mind raced off for a moment. _W-Was he about to say he l-loved me? No, that can't be right..._

As she dozed off, Erebus stood by the doorframe, staring lovingly at her sleeping face. _I almost said it... _he thought as his face heated up. _But... might as well do it._

"I love you." he whispered.

Nala smiled slightly in her sleep, almost as if she had heard him.


	6. Rune 5: Solstice and Snow

Rune 5: Solstice and Snow

"This homework is annoying." burst Eric as he stared at his packets and instructions. "The only redeeming thing is that I have two days to finish it." He was sitting on a couch with Drustan on his left.

"Isn't that all of us?" Drustan replied as he circled an answer on his paper. "We're in this together, Mr. Sweater. You always wear some kind of wool and those white dress clothes." Drustan was dressed in a simple white t-shirt and jeans.

"True, true." Nala said as she carefully placed a slim binder back into her rucksack. She had a wool sweater on over her orange shirt and jeans. "Erebus, you should do your homework." She was sitting to the right of Jean on the floor.

Erebus was merely lying down on one of the couches. "No can do. I just wanna do nothing for the rest of the day. That professor made me feel sleepy." He looked down at both of the girls from the couch behind them, dressed in his typical black shirt and jeans.

"Erebus-kun is just a little tired. Let him rest, okay~?" Jean said sweetly. Her attire was a green turtleneck and brown sports pants.

"Damn right I will. Not." Eric replied. He sighed heavily, staring at his homework. "This stuff gets tedious after a while."

"You're complaining about college level stuff, man." Nala reminded. "There's just one question I can't really get, no matter what I think."

"Same. After all, same class, same teacher. Eric told me earlier he didn't know about that magic question." Jean said. "Does Erebus-kun know~?"

"Hmm... what's the question?" he asked, sitting up with his back straight.

"Here you go... 'What is magic?'" Nala asked. She smirked inwardly. _Let's wipe that calm off his face!_

He frowned, then looked at his roommates quizzically. "That's easy. Why are you having trouble with that?" he asked. _Seriously, what are they thinking?_

"Because there's so many darn interpretations! I can't keep track of all them! And plus, how are they even related!?" Nala burst. "I'm reading. There's a passage about a theory of particles that enable us to use magic. In that case it's manipulating those particles to do real-world actions! But in another it's like telepathy, with the user controlling the elements with their mind! It's so damn confusing!"

"It's really simple." Erebus insisted.

"Erebus~! My hero, once again~!" Jean gushed as she reached up towards him. "Accept my love~!"

He blinked uncomfortably, scooting away from her so he sat above and behind Nala. "But the theories are based on a simple concept."

"Explain." Nala said, looking up at him.

He smiled, which made her heart skip a beat. "Magic is when you tell the world what to do." he replied. "Like I said, simple."

Three shocked roommates stared at the slacker of the dorm. "How the heck do you know this!?" Eric asked, shaking slightly.

Erebus gave a wink, causing Jean to burst into fangirl mode. "It's a trade secret." he replied slyly as he petted Jean's head.

Jean reached up, both of her arms hovering closer to his shoulders. "Let me give you something, my hero~!"

Nala's eye twitched slightly, but she kept her focus on her assignments. She chuckled slightly as she penciled in the answer. "A simple answer. What else can you expect from a slacker?" she smirked a little.

"Do you seriously want me to explain why I chose that answer?" Erebus asked, one eyebrow raised. "Staying simple gives less of a headache. And sometimes in life, that's what you want."

Nala rolled her eyes. "I was just teasing." she replied, keeping her voice serious with her eyes on her paper. "However, that is true."

"Yep. Now please don't taser me while I take a nap." Erebus said, lying back down on the couch. _I better keep an eye open..._

Nala raised an eyebrow. "Who said anything about a taser?" she mumbled, setting her pencil down.

"You did complain about me not doing my homework. I just want to sleep and not do anything. So I'm telling you not to taser me so I don't wake up." he replied.

"Right..." Nala said slowly before picking her pencil back up. "I actually wasn't thinking about doing anything until you said that."

"Well, glad you understand me a bit." Erebus said as he petted Nala's head before dozing off. His right hand was still resting on her head.

Nala felt a swirl of different emotions: annoyance from being petted yet also an odd satisfaction. She carefully took his hand off of her head and rested it on the couch beside him and sighed softly, continuing to work on the packet that sat in front of her.

"I'm a little worried about Erebus..." Jean muttered. "What about his homework? Maybe I should taser him..."

Nala glanced over at Jean in annoyance. "Just let him sleep. Weren't you talking about letting 'poor Erebus-kun' sleep a moment ago?" she asked.

"You know, Nala, there are some boys who'd kill for a girl like Jean..." Drustan commented as he finished off his assistant work.

_So why doesn't she go after one of them?_ Nala thought bitterly, but instead replied nonchalantly with, "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Jean is a girl who respects and yet deeply cares about Erebus, so I'm guessing she'll do what she thinks is right. At the time it was taking a nap; now it's doing homework." he responded.

Nala sighed. "I'm sure he'll do just fine with getting it done early in the morning. He hasn't seemed to have any problems with it so far." she replied.

"Even after taking a nap after every day, waking up only to cook dinner?" Eric asked incredulously. "You know, I'm wondering about what the heck Erebus actually does."

"What do you mean?" Nala asked, turning her attention from Drustan to Eric.

"He sleeps through class and sleeps in the dorms, yet he aces every class like it's nothing. Something's fishy." Eric replied.

"You aren't accusing him of cheating, are you, you dirty pervert!" Jean yelled in Erebus's defense.

"Hello? What's all of this about me doing my homework?" Erebus asked as he sat up in the couch, yawning lightly.

Nala looked at Jean, Eric, and finally Drustan respectively. "I think he'll be fine." she stated before returning to work on her packet. She was about halfway through now.

"You guys are really stung by that, aren't you?" Erebus asked as he carefully got off the couch. "My homework's already done, like before we got back to the dorms."

Eric gasped at Erebus in shock. "How?!" he demanded.

"I pretty much know everything like the back of my hand." Erebus replied. "And I did the homework during class and break."

Nala smirked to herself. _I figured he knew everything._ "Really, how did you convince the teacher to give it all to you ahead of time? I asked earlier and he refused."

Erebus smiled. "If I told you why, you'd never believe me." he said, scratching his black hair.

"How do you know?" Nala replied. "Ever since I met you, I've learned to expect the unexpected."

Erebus grabbed his rucksack and eased it open. He took out 7 packets, each labeled "Scaling Test." On each of them was a perfect score. "I aced them within half a class." he replied.

Nala nodded slowly, doing her best to keep the shock off of her face. "So you proved to him you knew everything, am I correct?"

Erebus was about to reply when a knock and the swish of paper emerged from the door. He walked over to the oak door, picking up 7 letters. "Ah, I see..."

"Erebus-kun, what are they about~?" Jean asked.

He opened a letter, laughing as he read the contents. "They've basically kicked me out of the class. Every one of them."

"What!? Why?!" Drustan, Eric, Jean, and Nala demanded. Nala mentally noted how perfect the timing was for the letters to have shown up.

"It's basically a 'too good for school' situation. They didn't want me to make everyone else look bad, apparently..." Erebus said. He grinned for a moment before wiping it off his face. "Sorry, I know I sounded a bit arrogant..."

"So what, you just don't go to school for a semester or what?" Eric asked, jealousy in his voice.

"It means I get to chose my classes." Erebus replied. "Not going to school for a semester? That'd be a disaster for me! I'd prefer living with other people instead of by myself again!"

Eric nodded slowly. "Lucky..." he mumbled.

"I think not... dammit, now I have to figure out what the hell I'm interested in!" Erebus groaned.

"You could find something to do with cooking." Nala pointed out.

"Yeah~!" Jean agreed. "Your meals are amazing Erebus-kun~!"

He scratched his head. "I'm not sure I'd want a career in cooking..."

Nala suppressed the urge to punch Jean for overacting. _Am I ever going to not want to punch her? Jeez..._ She shrugged. "Well, I'm sure you'll think of something." she stated.

"In that case, I'll have to try out a lot of classes..." he sighed.

"I could probably help you arrange that, Erebus." Drustan said. "I am a teachers' assistant after all."

Erebus nodded in appreciation. "Thanks, man."

Drustan shrugged. "It's what I'm here for." he replied, chuckling.

Jean turned to face Nala. "You know, you could be his support. You know, keep him up when he's down."

Nala turned to hold Jean's gaze. "Your point is?"

"Well..." Jean started, her vivid green eyes looking up at the ceiling.

"Why is everyone suddenly supporting me as if I'm leaving the dorm? I'm still going to be here." Erebus said, looking around. "Thanks for the various offers, but I think I'll accept Drustan's."

"Of course, I will help my Erebus-kun~!" Jean gushed yet again, smiling with her vivid green eyes twinkling in fangirl mode yet again.

Nala groaned inwardly, once again resisting the urge to punch Jean. "Alright. Have fun with your class-hunt." Nala said as she reached the last page of her homework packet.

"Thanks." he replied, giving her a smile that made her heart skip. He opened the oak door leading to the hallway before slamming it shut again. "I lied. I'm going nowhere."

"Welcome." Nala said quietly, smiling back just a little.

Eric jumped as Erebus slammed the door, looking at it in shock. "Is he mad, or is the door hard to close or what?" He asked, somewhat annoyed.

"How about one word: fangirls." Drustan replied. He scribbled more notes on his paper. "It's this dorm's eternal problem."

Eric looked at Drustan curiously. "Why would it be a problem?" he asked.

"Well, because- Oh wait, I remember now! The fans never really bother you, so you don't know. Erebus, mind explaining?" Nala said.

Erebus has his face turned away, with a slight blush as he remembered her little smile. _T-That was so cute... _

Eric turned his attention to Erebus. "Well?" he asked impatiently.

"Huh? Oh yeah. Well, it's kinda like this..." Erebus started. "The fans try to mob us and pester us for stuff like signature or kisses or engagement or whatever-the-hell-you-can-think-of. They also mob and steal our stuff 'cause, well, it's our stuff. And they want us."

Eric nodded in understanding. "Wow. That must be a pain in the neck..." he stated.

"Aim a little higher, and you'd get it." Erebus replied. "Back of the head."

Nala and Jean nodded their agreement.

"I almost got kidnapped once too." Jean said, shivering at the memory. "Luckily one of the teachers realized what was happening and stopped it."

Drustan cleared his throat. "It was a teachers' assistant." He stated. "It's the reason I'm here now: to prevent such an event from occurring again."

"YOU SAVED HER!?" burst the other roommates.

Drustan chuckled and shrugged. "I've saved a lot of people." he said calmly.

"Wait... event, event... OH C***!" Erebus swore. "I ALMOST FORGOT! I'M AN IDIOT!" He rushed at terminal speed towards a window, opening it and jumping out into space.

Everyone stared after him in surprise, wondering what Erebus's outburst was about.

"Well. That was random." Eric stated after a little while.

Erebus flew up on shadowy wings to the level of the window. "Tomorrow, winter solstice! Time of wishes and giving!" he hollered.

"OH!" burst Nala. "I was so busy with school, I forgot all 'bout it!"

"You aren't the only one." complained Jean. She looked down at the floor. "It's going to be a pain trying to get last minute shopping done today..."

"Hmm... you'all could go shopping with me." Erebus replied.

Jean looked up at Erebus with starry eyes. "You'd really let us tag along~!"

"Yep. Seriously, it's time for gifts and wishes. You could figure out what you wanted as you'all go shopping." Erebus said. "Who's up for it? I might as well help with homework, since I've got nothing else to do."

"Oh Erebus-kun~! You're truly a life saver~!" Jean gushed.

Nala froze for a moment. _She has no idea how true that is._

"Sounds like a good plan. Maybe we can all get something together to also keep out the fans." Eric replied.

"That's the smartest thing you have said when you're not in pervert mode." Erebus said.

Jean giggled and nodded in agreement. "He's right, you know, Eric." she said.

"Shut up, both of you." Eric growled defensively.

"Oh c'mon, Eric. Lighten up, would you? It's the solstice tomorrow!" Nala chided, smiling.

"So, are you'all coming?" Erebus asked again.

Nala nodded, putting her stuff away. "Yeah. Let's go." she said as she stood.

"I'll come too." Eric said. "Anything to get out of homework."

Drustan smirked. "I could make you stay after that comment, Eric." he said in a serious tone. Amusement shined in his eyes though.

"Alright, alright. We all wanna go. Stand up in front of me. Don't ask why, we're heading to the skies." Erebus ordered.

The group nodded and gathered around in front of Erebus.

"Ahem. Three, two, one..." he started before snapping his fingers. "You all look good as angels. Now how to color them..."

"Color what?" Nala asked curiously.

Erebus pointed at his wings, then at her. "You'd look nice if your shadow wings were pure white." he said.

"Shadow wings?!" Nala exclaimed, turning to look at the magnificent wings on her back. Her eyes were wide in amazement.

The others in the group followed suit, gawking at the new appendages on their backs.

"Yep. Flap 'em once. They should feel natural, like you've had them all your lifetime." Erebus replied.

"That's amazing~!" Jean gushed. "What color do I get, Erebus-kun~?" she asked in anticipation.

"Uh... they're all black. But... I've got a feeling that wings with green and blue feathers would look good on you." he replied. _It's the truth._

Jean smiled, blushing a little as if it were a compliment. "Awesome~!" she squealed.

Eric cleared his throat. "Well, shall we go, or...?" he asked, trailing off.

"We go." Erebus replied. He flapped his wings with a mighty thrust, propelling him skyward. "Just jump out and fly! Freedom!"

Nala jumped out the window first, causing the people below to scream in horror. She flapped her wings once to propel herself upward at the last minute. "This is amazing!" she yelled as she flew around, getting a feeling for flying instantly. "Even better than with my flames!" _It's just like when... wait, when what? Nevermind... I don't think I've ever done this before!_

"Now you see why I like this. I should start a business." Erebus commented, with a grin on his face.

Nala nodded, smiling widely. "You could! Fifty bucks for a ten minute flight. You'd be rich in a week!" she said, smiling.

He laughed as the rest of the roommates caught up to them. "Not everyone likes black! If we had spray paint or an artist or a light magician, it'd fly!"

Nala's smile grew, if it was even possible. "I could help maybe! We could get rich together!" she said carelessly. Her eyes widened and a blush grew on her face. _Wh-what am I-I saying?_ She felt her heart racing.

Erebus's mouth formed a little 'o' as a blush appeared on his face. "T-That'd work..." _D-Did she just... _He felt as if his heart was on adrenaline, racing faster than his thoughts.

Nala nodded slowly. "Y-yeah... L-let's get going." she replied.

He nodded, turning his face away from hers so she couldn't see his blush.

Jean flew up between them. "Hey, can we get going? We've got a lot of shopping to do!" she said enthusiastically. Nala thought she heard a hint of jealousy in her voice.

"U-Uh, yeah." Erebus replied. His 'o' turned into a half-grin. "Divebomb! Last one there has to buy ice-cream for all of us!"

Nala smirked. "You're on! Three, two, one... GO!" she yelled, before anyone had a chance to do anything. She raced off in the direction of the plaza.

"Hey, no fair!" Jean whined.

"No kidding." Drustan replied.

"Not so fast." Erebus whispered in Nala's ear before beating the air faster and faster. He had a smirk on his face.

Nala gasped softly, her blush returning for a split second. She started to beat her wings harder and faster, racing after him.

Drustan and the others flew behind them, more casually.

"Alley up!" Erebus yelled as he burst himself down towards the ground with closed wings.

Nala followed suit, using flames to help boost herself forward. She cut the flames off as she neared the ground to avoid crashing.

She looked forwards as Erebus opened his wings, causing him to surge forward like the wind.

She kept her darting speed forward, swooping up to avoid hitting the ground and adding a few acrobatic moves to her flight. She smiled as she felt the wind racing around her.

And then she saw something she thought defied logic. Erebus weaved through the crowd so efficiently and speedily that he was just a shadowy blur. None of the crowd paid attention to him.

She stared down at him in awe. _I've got to get lessons from him..._ she decided.

"They're assassin skills." a voice whispered in her ear.

She gasped and spun around to face the whisperer. Her eyes widened as she saw none other than Erebus himself. "H-How?" she gasped. "You were just down there!"

"I was. It's not too busy down there." Erebus replied.

"But I swear I saw you down there!" she exclaimed.

"I know." He sighed, as if remembering a painful memory. "It's a kinda thing I learned since I'm an Acheron..."

Nala looked at him softly, yet curiously. "I see. Well it is pretty cool." she said softly, trying to help boost his mood a little. The act surprised her. _I might as well admit it.._. she thought in defeat. _I really do care about him..._

"Thanks." His mouth curled up to a half-grin.

"You're welcome." Nala replied, a smile creeping onto her face as well.

The other roommates soon arrived at the plaza. "Shoot, I'm last..." Eric groaned.

"Well, then spend less time doing corkscrews." Jean replied, holding back a laugh.

"You know, I'm kinda the loser here..." Erebus said. "I mean, you all made it to the plaza before me."

Nala chuckled softly, scratching her head. "He's right... We were the last ones to get here." she said softly.

"No, no. What I mean is this: the finish line is the plaza. You're all flapping your wings over the plaza. I still haven't flown into plaza airspace. Which means I lost." Erebus clarified.

Eric punched the air. "Victory! My money is safe!" he cheered.

"That's dumb luck..." Drustan muttered.

"Aww~! Erebus-kun is so noble~!" Jean gushed.

Nala rolled her eyes but couldn't hide the smile in her eyes. "Come on. Let's go get started on our shopping lists." she said, starting her descent to the ground.

"Alright. Separate out so we don't know what we're getting for each other?" Erebus asked. He landed softly on the ground, his colorless eyes reflecting the colors of the shops and wares.

"Sounds good to me." Drustan agreed. The other two except Jean nodded.

"No, wait..." Jean said. "Maybe a buddy system. One group of two, another of three. That way, we won't have an incident like mine..."

"Hmm. That'd work too." Eric commented. "I don't wanna be alone with these... 'fangirls'."

"Alright. So how are going to split up?" Nala asked.

"When in doubt, do stupid decision games that don't really make sense and are obviously biased." Erebus replied.

Eric looked at Erebus curiously.

Drustan chuckled. "You better elaborate for him." he said, pointing at Eric.

"You know, like eenie meenie miney mo, catch a tiger by its toe? It's biased because if you know the trick, you can chose who you want." Erebus explained.

"Oh ok..." Eric said slowly, feeling stupid. "So is that how we're gonna do it?"

"Nope. Let's just stick with biased decisions, since that's the best we can do."

"We could do the two girls and the three guys." Drustan suggested.

"A buddy system. That'd work. Plus, then we don't have to deal with both genders as they swarm towards us." Jean agreed. "Am I right Erebus-kun~?"

"Alright, alright." Erebus replied. "One other thing. Each group cannot know what the other is buying as a gift."

"You're making this too complicated." Nala said. "Let's just stay as one group and try to make it so none of us know what the others are buying."

Eric looked at Nala dumbly. "And how do you expect us to pull that off?" he asked.

"You just do." Drustan blankly replied.

"You guys are impossible!" Eric groaned.

"Yep. Sums it up." Erebus replied.

Eric sighed. "Well, shall we get started then?" he asked in annoyance.

"Alright, alright." Nala said. "Let's go exploring."

The group began trekking through the plaza and its shops. Erebus absentmindedly formed shapes out of shadows. "No fans coming." he reported.

Nala sighed in relief. "Well that's good to hear. Wouldn't want them mobbing us while we were shopping."

"Well, let's see... oh, it's my stop. Guess what I'm up to." Erebus said. He entered a candy shop and began talking with the manager.

Jean managed to hear from the conversation "...a favor back. Need to use your kitchen." The store owner nodded and let Erebus in.

"Well, wonder what a candy store has that he doesn't." Eric said. "Sugar? Lots of sugar?"

"Could be pans and stuff." Nala noted.

"Well, you're missing the food stuff..." Drustan noted. "Making chocolate, I guess?"

From behind the counter, a chef cried out "Amazing! Best bloody sweet I've had in days!"

"Definitely his food~!" Jean sighed, her eyes sparkling again. "Oh sweet shall he make it for me~!"

"Well, at least it's got to be something amazing..." Nala muttered.

Soon, Erebus exited the kitchen with one pure white pack. He patted it for a moment, breathing in deeply. "I'm good now. It won't melt, I promise."

"What is it?" his roommates demanded.

He gave a sly smile. "Not telling, but it does smell good."

Nala sighed. "Well, I'm going to my next stop, alright? Nobody's gonna stalk me, right?"

"Besides us, who want to know, and the fanboys, who always do that? Nobody." Eric said.

"You guys are all impossible..." Nala groaned. "Alright. Just... you know, keep a lookout for fanboys, alright?"

They all nodded as Nala entered the clothing outlet.

As soon as she looked down, she felt herself breath in sharply. _This place is so damn huge! The business is on the bottom floor! That's where what I want to get is!_

She stealthily stepped down to the bottom floor, sneaking past a group of Nala fanboys. _Just as I feared... _

_They're all right next to those jackets I need to buy!_

Inwardly she sighed. _Well, I'm done for. Can't even get what I want for him... _Her cheeks tinged pink. _Especially since it's almost the solstice. A time of wishes and giving..._

"Nala's here!"

Automatically she stood up and found herself surrounded by an army of fanboys. _S***! It's all over!_

_I'm gonna get kidnapped... please let me say my final prayers..._

"Why the long face?" the crowd around her asked.

"Huh!? Why what? I just want to buy five jackets that I think are good." Nala replied. _It doesn't matter anyways..._

Murmurs rippled through the army of fanboys before it dispersed, leaving Nala a free path to the rack, the checkout counter, and the exit.

_Didn't Eric do something like this before? He must've done it without knowing..._ she thought as she sorted through the jackets. _There's a women's jacket the same green as Jean's eyes. I'll stick with that. Drustan likes yellow, Eric's good with white as usual, and Erebus... what's his favorite color?_

"Checker board." a voice said behind her.

"EREBUS! YOU SCARED THE S*** OUT OF ME!" Nala burst as she whirled towards him. "AT LEAST TELL ME YOU'RE THERE!"

"Okay, okay, sheesh... " Erebus said, his hands up as if he was being arrested. "Just saying though."

"Now you know what I'm getting! It's ruined!" Nala said, glaring at him.

"Who knows what you'd get for me." Erebus replied. "But you do have good taste."

"T-Thanks..." Nala muttered as a pink tinge infected her cheeks.

"No problem." he replied as he turned around, lazily walking up towards the exit.

She swiftly turned back to the rack and sighed a bit. _Why didn't I notice that one?_

In front of her was a black and white wool jacket, alternating between the two colors in a criss-cross pattern. _It's white and black, now it's grey. It's something Erebus would like _she thought.

Nala reached the checkout counter. Without looking the bored clerk asked "Mystery gifts?"

"How'd you know!?" she asked as she set down the wool garments.

"It's what everyone wants. Red or white container?" the clerked said. He looked up with his typical gaze.

"White. Gotta get it so my friends can get it for the solstice." Nala replied.

"Mmhm. What's their names?" he asked as he took out boxes and a pen.

"Let's see... Jean Terrami, Drustan Gwytheryn, Eric Blizzant, and Erebus Acheron." she rattled off.

"Mmhm. Let's see. It's Jean, Drustan, Eric, and Ereb- Wait! Say that last name again..." the clerk said. His eyes were fully widened and his hands were shaking.

"Erebus Acheron. Why? Anything wrong?" Nala asked. _Why, of all people, does this guy freak out about him?_

The clerk promptly dropped his pen onto the desk. "P-Please, don't k-kill me!" he begged. "I-I'm too y-young to die!"

"Uh, he's just my roommate." Nala said.

His head jerked up, his eyes quivering with fear like they were in a earthquake. "E-Even worse!" he stuttered. Quickly he wrote Erebus's name in a calligraphist style and tossed the clothing and tags into the white bag. "Now p-please, leave! N-Now!"

Nala didn't waste anytime as she rushed up the stairs. _That was weird... how infamous are the Acherons? I mean, yeah they're dark magicians. But why are they feared more than others? Those dark families always seem to blend together..._

"Heya." Erebus greeted as she exited the store. "How was it?"

"I got swarmed, then left alone by fanboys." Nala replied. "It was odd. The next time I'm surrounded by fans, I'm not taking my chances to ask for a favor."

"Oh. You're a bit luckier than me than." Jean said, shivering as she remembered her near-kidnapping.

"That's right. I was tempted to punch the doors open and dashed into the store." Drustan added. "Had a feeling of being watched. Didn't like it."

"Well, aren't we ready to go somewhere else?" Eric said as he scratched his white hair. "It's my turn."

"Go ahead." Erebus encouraged as his eyes darted around. "Fangirl army next intersection, fanboys just behind us. Nasty situation."

"How do you even know this stuff?" Drustan asked.

"You didn't notice my shadow clone?" Erebus replied, looking a bit offended.

"To be honest, it's kind of hard to tell the difference." Drustan stated as he rubbed the back of his head.

Erebus grinned. "Good. That means I'm doing my job properly, deceiving you. Tricks and pranks."

Drustan nodded slowly, shifting a little uncomfortably. "I see... Well should we get going?" he said, trying to change the subject.

"I've got a little store I'll be going to. I'll be making something... cool." Eric said.

"Ice cream?" Nala guessed. _It's pretty obvious what he's going for._

"Close, but not quite." Eric said with a half grin. "Come on. We've got places to go-"

"And fans to dodge." Erebus finished.

They walked with the flow of the crowd, soon reaching a large candy store.

"This is my stop. Don't peek!" Eric said as he entered the store. He waved friendly at the store manager, talking so that the rest of them couldn't hear.

"I sense more food coming... courtesy of Erebus, thanks a lot." Nala said.

"I dunno how good the pervert's food is..." Jean replied. "I'd rather have Erebus-kun's~!"

Drustan simply stared at the store, reading its signs and promotions. "Famous for frozen treats." he rattled off. "We can guess."

Eric soon exited the store with a white rucksack much like that of Erebus's. "I'm good. Gonna keep chill."

"Get a cold then." Jean replied.

He laughed a bit. "Haven't had one, ever. The cold doesn't bother me."

"Alright, alright. " Drustan said. "My stop next-"

Surging from alleys and intersections were fanboys and fangirls, staring at them with the trademark sparkling eyes.

"Where is it?" Erebus asked as he eyed the invading fans. "I can shadow travel, quick."

"Let's see... how about we don't and you'all just follow me?" Drustan replied. "Can you bind the fangirls and fanboys?"

"Yeah, sure-" Jean started.

A fanboy's hand shot out and grasped her left arm, causing her to shriek. "Not again! Save me!"

At the same time, Nala felt hands grab her right arm, causing her to panic. _S***! I was careless!_

"You good?" Erebus asked as he easily ripped her from the fan's grasp. He flipped her over onto his back, carrying her as she instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck. _No time to lose, gotta move! _He began jogging after Drustan.

Eric froze the front line of the fanboys, lifting Jean bridal style and running after Erebus. "Close call." he said.

"P-Pervert!" Jean protested as she ineffectively punched his shoulder. Her face tinged pinked.

"Almost there..." Drustan reported as they weaved through the crowd.

They soon reached an apothecary. Drustan opened the door and ushered the two pairs in before shutting it closed. "Safe. Now please, relax."

Jean got onto her feet and slapped Eric with a nasty backhand. "Never do that again, pervert." she said with a light blush on her face.

"Y-Yes Jean..." Eric stuttered. His face heated up as he realized what he'd done. _I just did it, like I knew what to do, no question asked..._

Nala slid off of Erebus's back. "Embarrassing..." she muttered.

"Don't you say..." Erebus replied.

Eric looked around. "An apothecary, huh?" he thought aloud.

"Just getting some ingredients..." Drustan replied. He selected a few herbs and 4 glass orbs, purchasing them at the aged oak counter. He returned with a white rucksack, just like Eric's. "Last one is Jean." he said.

"Yes~!" Jean said with sparkles in her eyes. "I can finally get my gift for Erebus-kun~!"

"She reminds me of a fangirl..." Drustan muttered under his breath.

"Don't you say..." Eric replied. "Now we've all felt it."

Nala nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Welcome to the club, Drustan." she chuckled softly so she wouldn't sound too mean.

"Alright~! My turn~!" Jean said as she exited the shop. Her sight settled on a building that looked like a greenhouse. "Found it~!"

"High speed..." Eric muttered. "The only things faster are fans, fans with adrenaline, and the people running away from the fans."

"You know, that's exactly true..." Erebus commented as he apprehensively gazed around in the darkening plaza. The sun was beginning to dip down for another sunset.

Jean skipped to the door and reached the greenhouse, cutely tugging on the door. "This door always stuck..." she groaned.

Around her, random fanboys promptly had a nosebleed, squirting a fountain of the crimson liquid.

"I've got it." Eric said automatically as he easily swung the door open. "Ladies first."

"Why thank you!" Jean beamed as she walked into the shop.

Nala and Drustan stared at them both with a glint of surprise in their eyes. Erebus merely had an eyebrow raised.

Soon, Jean exited the greenhouse with another rucksack. This one was colored an earthy brown, though.

"We're all done, aren't we?" Erebus asked.

"Yep." Nala replied. "Though how are we going to get these back to the dorms? Flying again?"

"Sure. But if you think you've got to lug them all the way up, think again." Erebus said with a sly smile. "Take off your packs."

They all did so, including Erebus. Carefully, they set the rucksacks onto the ground.

"So you're going to shadow travel them~?" Jean asked.

Erebus winked. "You'll see." he promised. "3, 2, 1..." He snapped his fingers like a magician after saying the magic words. "You'all have very nice wings now. Check your packs too."

"Huh?" Nala said. She picked up her pack. "I don't see anything."

The pack promptly flew out of her grasp and grew wings, fluttering in midair .

"What did I say?" Erebus asked, giving a playful smile.

"You never said our packs would fly. What's next, the couch?" Eric replied. He pointed at the clock. "Almost dinner. Starving."

"And I still have to pay for the ice cream..." Erebus groaned. "Why did I not look..."

"Know a good spot?" Drustan asked. "I'm not into the ice cream truck variety. That song those trucks play makes me sick."

"Hmm... yep." Erebus said. "Follow me. Don't get caught by the fans."

He jumped into the air, flapping his wings so he shot up like a torpedo. His rucksack soon followed, flapping like an airborne chicken behind him. "Ah shoot, it's closed." he said.

"What's the shop called~?" Jean asked. "I'd go there with you~!"

"It's closed. We can all go there tomorrow." Erebus said. He gestured at them to fly up. "Come on. I promised homework help."

They all nodded as they began hovering in the air, each of their rucksacks flying with them with a mind of their own. Soon, they reached their own window and managed to climb into their dorm room.

"So, what homework does anyone need help for? I'm available." Erebus asked as he snapped his fingers again, causing the wings on the rucksacks to fade away.

Everyone took their seat at the dorm room's "great table", where all the square tables were scooted together. Erebus sat on the floor at the "head" of the "great table". Nala and Jean were on his right; Eric and Drustan were on his left.

"There's a whole section I don't get, Erebus-kun~!" Jean gushed as she held up her homework packet. "Professor Aran is so tough!"

"Same, bro." Eric said as he searched through his pages. "That section about concentrated magic? Couldn't do it."

"Alright, so let's begin then." Erebus stated as he peered over the packets.

As he explained the answers in detail, Nala felt herself drawn to him. His answers made sense, and as she found from the first question on, made her felt like she understood every detail.

"How are you doing this so well!?" she asked in surprise. "Aran explained it, and I barely understood half of his explanations!"

Erebus warmly smiled, surprising her yet again. She never thought that a guy who had dark magician family could be so human. Every dark magician she'd ever met seemed distant and cold like the ice cubes in the fridge. They were always there, and always chilly.

"It's something like 'you'll feed a man if you give them a fish, but you'll feed them for life if you teach them how to fish.' I think it was from a eastern philosopher." he replied. "A proverb, but not an author I know."

Nala nodded. Soon, the sky darkened to a inky black that seemed warm with Erebus at her side. She had her homework finished and her mind armed for the next face off with her teachers.

"Gifts! When are we getting the gifts to each other?" Drustan asked.

"There's the winter solstice festival tomorrow. We're good at that time." Jean replied. "And that means Erebus-kun will get my gift and love~!"

"Well, yeah that's true." Eric said as he looked at the darkening night. "Time to tuck in. The festival means no classes. No classes, its the perfect time."

As they all stood up, each of them felt like a zombie except Erebus. He was sleeping away on the couch with his jacket as his makeshift blanket.

Nala stared at him as the rest of them retired to their bedrooms, landing on the bed like sleep deprivation victims. Her breathing quickened as she stared at Erebus's peaceful face, her cheeks turning pink. _Why do I feel like this around him!? This is no good! He's my enemy!_

Erebus merely shifted in his sleep, muttering something incomprehensible.

Nala shifted forwards to catch the words he was saying. All she managed to catch was "Peccatum..." from him as he repeated it 6 more times. _Peccatum.. what does that mean? And 7 times? I have a bad feeling about that... _Sighing, she returned to her room and plopped onto her bed. _Don't wanna think about it. So tired..._

_How am I gonna give my gifts?_

* * *

><p><em>Listen up. 3 years ago, you became the failure and disgrace to the family name. <em>Nala heard in her dreams. She was crying like a child who lost her parents: alone, drowned in sorrow without anyone to lean on.

_No, please! Father, no! _she repeated in her thoughts as she recounted her father's cold voice that day he practically kicked her out of the Inquisition. _I have nobody..._

Within her dreams she stood in a sole patch of light, pathetically small compared to the surrounding inky blackness around her. She shivered from the cold of the darkness, staying within the circle of warmth.

"Wake up, sunshine." another voice spoke as a hand reached out from the darkness behind her. "Wake up. Rise and shine."

She edged away from the hand as her father's voice repeatedly reprimanded her. "No! You freak! You monster! Stay away, child of darkness!" At this point she was at the end of her wits. _Never believe the darkness! They spew lies! They deceive to drag you down to their level: the hell of a life they live!_

"You monster..." the voice repeated with a weak voice of hurt. The patch of light shimmered on the hand and beyond, revealing Erebus. "You're right, Nala. I'm a monster. A beast at bay. The black sheep of the herd. Doomed to never fit in, among people and even among my own family." He let his hand drop to his side.

The darkness began infecting the patch of light near him, the blackness creepily and almost organically latching onto him, covering him in the shadows again. "All I am is a monster. You're right. I'm a fool. Should've stayed in Hell and Purgatory so nobody else can suffer." he said, closing his colorless eyes.

Nala lunged at him, her hand outstretched as it left the boundary of the patch of light. She felt the intense cold of the darkness, but ignored it as she reached for him. _Don't disappear! Don't give up! Don't give in to the darkness!_

As her hand hovered closer to him, he sighed deeply.

"Peccatum, Peccatum, Peccatum, Peccatum, Peccatum, Peccatum, Peccatum. The seven deadly sins." he intoned in a voice that seemed to ring with endless sadness. "Even when those were wiped off, heaven was bared to me. Maybe as a beast I should die in a hole. Because even heaven, the place of mercy, rejects me like a piece of trash."

"That's not right! Live! Live! It doesn't matter about hell or heaven or whatever! You choose your fate, idiot!" Nala said, protesting against his words. "Live! You're not a beast until you lose yourself! Live!" She felt more tears threatening to flow from her eyes. The icy cold pricked her skin as she pressed closer to Erebus.

The light seemed to grow in strength for just a moment before starting to fade again. Erebus began chuckling darkly, a shadow covering his face. "And how do you know it's not too late for that?" he asked, with threatening insanity in his voice.

"Because! The light next to you, it isn't gone yet!" she gasped as the darkness grew thicker. She felt it was getting harder for her to breath. As if in response, the light flickered again, shrinking and dimming more. "Please Erebus! Fight it!" she yelled, but her voice seemed silent, drowned out by the growing volume of Erebus's maniacal laughter.

Suddenly the light went out, the laughter continued, and a scream was heard in the background.

_No. _she thought, her heart beating faster and faster. _That's the sound of a beast unleashed. The roar of a beast._

As she watched, the darkness all around her dissolved away as if it had never existed. She shivered as a monster spoke.

There was only one monster she ever feared. He was standing in front of her with his colorless eyes, but his kindness and humanity was replaced by something else.

He had the eyes of that dark wizard who killed her comrades. Distorted beyond recognition, with no order but the thirst of destruction. And he was speaking with that same distorted voice that marked the death of those under her command.

He was coming after her, ready to cut off her screams of mercy with ominous silence.

Nala woke up.

The morning light that filtered into the bedroom was a welcoming contrast to the shadows of her dreams. Besides her, Jean was still sleeping away, breathing in and out gently with little breaths. Her long earth-colored brown hair neatly laid on her pillow.

She stared at the clock. It was 8:00AM, her usual time on a peaceful day.

_Just like the times I got up when I was in the Inquisition... _she thought for a moment before shaking the thought aside. _I'm being stupid. They kicked me out._

Nala swung out of her bed, fully awake as her feet touched the hardwood floor. She searched around, getting a feel of the warm and fresh air. After the chill of her dreams, she felt like winter was her own personal nemesis. All she wanted was warmth, preferably not from a human being.

Her eyes wandered to an white box on the table next to her bed. A tag on it was addressed to her in neat handwriting. _Who gave me that gift? And why do I feel like I know who gave me that? _She traced her finger along the letters. _It's Erebus's gift. I remember that writing when he helped me with my work... _She shook her head violently. _He's the one that killed my comrades. In the end, no matter what he says, he's a monster. _

Jean stirred slightly, rolling over so that she faced Nala. "Mmhm... yes, Erebus... do it..." she murmured.

"He's mine." Nala automatically muttered under her breath. Immediately her face heated up as she realized what she said. _Oh no... not again... what is this feeling!? My heart goes faster and faster when I think about him... _She turned to the box, then glanced at Jean again. _Since when did she start dreaming about getting my- I mean him! God, this is bad..._

She shook her head to clear her thoughts before looking at the box. With precise movements she opened the container. "Huh? What is this?"

In front of her was a box of round milk chocolates, with some dark chocolate pillars. Mounted on a rolling mechanism also made of milk chocolate was a sun-shaped white chocolate. The track that supported it was made of dark chocolate, surrounding the smalls round confectionaries in a perfect circle.

"I mean, this is amazing... must've been hard to mold of this..." Nala murmured under her breath. "That sun is amazing..." She reached out and touched the molded star before gasping as she looked back at the rest of the creation. "Just like the real sun..."

The white chocolate sun cast "light", making the round milk chocolates turn into white chocolates. As the light hit the dark chocolate poles, it created milk chocolate shadows.

Nala couldn't believe her eyes. She moved the sun on its track experimentally to see if it was real, as the length of the light and the shadows changed. "Just... amazing... Jean would be fangirling..." She stopped touching the chocolate star, causing the white chocolate "light" to fade away as she closed the box. Carefully, she put on her clothes for the day: a white turtleneck and regular blue jeans. She snuck out of the room, taking care to not disturb Jean's dream of her fantasy with Erebus.

She glanced over to the couch and saw that Erebus was still asleep. _That's a first. He's usually up by now..._ she thought. She strolled over so that she stood in front of him, curled up on the couch peacefully without a blanket or pillow. The only thing that ruined it was a frown on his face, a stark contrast to his relaxed position.

Erebus rolled in his sleep, shifting around and almost rolling off the couch. "Peccatum..." he muttered as he moved, touching his forehead. "NOT AGAIN!"

Nala jumped back in surprise, yelping as her lower legs hit the table, flopping backwards onto the solid oak wood slab. She watched him as he opened his eyes before he rolled off the couch onto his feet.

"Good morning." Erebus said. His eyes widened as he saw Nala on the table. "What happened?" He held out his right hand.

Nala took his hand, noting the contrast of its warmth against the freezing dream she had. _In the dream he was like ice... cold, and maybe even easily shatterable..._

He pulled her up onto her feet. "You okay?" he asked gently. He gave a smile that made her heart skip another beat.

"Y-Yeah..." she muttered quickly. _He always makes me feel like this... but... why do I feel like there's something wrong with that smile?_ She glanced into his colorless eyes and inwardly gasped. _Inner sadness...?_

Erebus blinked, and what she saw was gone. "Well, I'm sorry, whatever I did."

Nala nodded. "Hold it. Don't go to sleep on me." she said. She returned to her room and pulled out a box from under her sturdy bed before returning to the couch. "My gift." Nala said as she opened the box in front of her. She gently took out the cashmere checkerboard jacket she bought yesterday for him. "Like it?"

Erebus smiled again, and Nala's heart skipped a beat along with that same suspicion. "How'd you guess?" he replied in mock surprise.

"You always wear a jacket." Nala said. "Here, put it on."

He slipped on the cashmere clothing, pulling on it to make sure it fitted properly. "Perfect."

"Glad you like it." Nala replied. She looked into his eyes again. _There's that same glint of... what is it? It's like... dread? Sadness? Fear? I don't know!_

"You saw my gift already, didn't you?" Erebus asked. He blinked again, and the tint in his eyes disappeared again.

Nala nodded vigorously. "Yeah! It was brilliant!" she exclaimed, automatically smiling brightly.

"Glad you liked it." he replied. "Follow me."

He snuck into the girl's bedroom. Nala mindlessly followed before realizing what Erebus might do.

"Are you trying to take advantage of Jean!?" she hissed into his ear.

"Nope." Erebus replied immediately.

Nala took a deep breath. "Are you trying to take advantage of me?" she asked.

Erebus stopped so suddenly that Nala crashed into him, pushing both of them onto the floor.

"A-Absolutely not!" he protested. He turned his face to the left, towards Nala's bed, revealing his heavy blush.

Nala's face immediately heated up as she felt herself breathing on him. She swiftly rolled off of him, standing up so she looked down at him. _What... why this feeling!?_

Erebus stood up, turning his face away from Nala. "Let me open Jean's chocolate box and activate it for her." he mumbled.

Nala nodded, staring at the doorway to conceal her blush. "Go ahead."

Erebus carefully opened the box, revealing a little chocolate seed and white chocolate dirt. He planted the "seed" into the sweet ground, touching it momentarily. "It should start growing..."

Nala watched as the seed grew into a sapling before transforming into an apple tree, complete with milk chocolate leaves and dark chocolate mini-apples. "Amazing..."

He laughed. "Eric has a white chocolate cloud that snows. Drustan has a dark chocolate cloud which rains white chocolate and thunders milk chocolate. Took me a while, but worth it."

Nala giggled, then shut it off by covering her mouth. _A giggle... _"Well, you did a good job. I've already gotten my jackets under their beds... well, except for you. You don't have a bed."

Erebus nodded as she stepped out of the girl's bedroom. "True. Did you see the plasma globes?"

"What?" she replied. "Plasma globes? Those are pretty expensive..."

He pointed at the kitchen table. "Well, apparently Drustan knows how to make them."

Her sight wandered to the globes, which had the plasma touching the glass with thin filaments. "You guys have talent. I want some of it."

"You sure? Talent means you have to cultivate it constantly to keep it at a level you want." Erebus replied. "Want some gelato Eric made? It's really good. The pervert once again surpassed my expectations."

"Isn't Jean like, vegan or something? Nala asked. "I mean, I'm sure Jean's vegetarian. Eggs in gelato, so she can't have it."

"Jean's not vegan or vegetarian. She just prefers to have organic foods." Erebus replied. "Remember? She has a leather jacket, and she did willingly eat some well-done beef I barbequed."

"Good point... " Nala replied as she opened the fridge. "There's mint for Jean, cookie-dough flavor for Drustan, plain vanilla for me and neapol-whatever-that-is ice cream."

"It's my favorite kind!" Erebus said in mock offense. "Neapolitan ice cream! All three of the classic flavors: vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry!"

"Sorry." she replied, rolling her eyes. "Do you have an idea what Jean got for us all?"

"Bonsai." he replied as he pointed near the window. "Bonsai plants. They're all the same kind."

Nala's eyes momentarily wandered to the plants and the tags on the pots that contained them. "We need stones for a garden."

""I can see what you're going for there." Erebus replied. "Come on. I'll make breakfast."

As she walked towards the girl's bedroom to shake Jean awake, his colorless eyes stared down at the ground. "That dream... that shimmer of light, that freezing colding, that chaos and monster..." He turned towards the fridge, ready to search for the morning's ingredients.

_I've had that nightmare before. But why did she share it with me?_


End file.
